Channels Television
November 21, 2011
http://www.channelstv.com/global/news_details.php?nid=30256&cat=World%20News
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Cardinal Bernand Law, the former Boston archbishop who resigned in disgrace in 2002 after a sex abuse scandal sullied his image, has resigned from his subsequent job as head of a major Roman basilica, the Associated Press reported.
According to the report, the Vatican confirmed on Monday that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted Law's resignation as archpriest of St. Mary Major basilica and had named as Law's replacement Spanish Monsignor Santos Abril y Castello.
In 2004, Law was appointed to the archpriest position, a high profile spot in one of Rome's most important basilica's. The decision was heavily criticised by alleged victims of priestly sex abuse, arguing that bishops shouldn't be covering up for pedophile priests.
The AP reported that the sex abuse crisis had unfolded in Boston in 2002, when Law was accusd of covering up sexual abuse accusation levelled against priests.
Church records revealed that church officials had kept secret complaints of priest molesting children. According to the AP, the priests had been shuffled from parish to parish instead of facing the law.
Law, who turned 80 earlier this month, could have been kept on for longer, but was replaced by the Pope.
According to the AP, the statement only spoke of Law's replacement, but made no mention of his resignation letter.
The resigned archpriest was the is, so far, the only U.S. bishop to resign from his post due to mishandling cases involving pedophile priests.
Law was named in hundreds of lawsuits, accusing him of failing to protect children from known sexual offenders. His successor, the now-Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley, settled some 550 victims with an $85 million settlement, 10 months after Law left office.
Several similar cases have sprouted across the country, and to date, U.S. dioceses has paid out nearly $3 billion in settlements to victims and other costs.
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