One Day He Will Face a Higher Law, by Margery Eagan, Boston Herald, November 22, 2011

One Day He Will Face a Higher Law

By Margery Eagan
Boston Herald
November 22, 2011

http://news.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view.bg?articleid=1382896&srvc=home&position=emailed

Cardinal Bernard Law

So Cardinal Bernard Law goes out, at worst, with but a gentle, subtle push.

It's hardly a satisfying end for the international "poster child for child clergy sex abuse," as Vatican watcher Peter Borre called Law yesterday.

Law was never indicted. He was never tried. He never had to explain why in the world he wrote glowing letters of recommendation for priests accused of molesting hundreds of children, as he did for Father John Geoghan and Father Paul Shanley.

News flashes yesterday all referred to him as the "disgraced" cardinal. But that disgrace brought him a promotion, not punishment from the Vatican for aiding and abetting such crimes.

Think back to when we first realized the scope of this gargantuan cover-up conspiracy.

Remember how our Catholic politicians, including then-Senate President William Bulger and the late U.S. Sen. Ted Kennedy, had nothing to say about this prince of the church?

Remember how Suffolk Superior Court officials treated Law like royalty when, even as evidence mounted against him, they nonetheless let him and his dark-windowed sedan be whisked inside a garage, then up a back elevator. He never had to face the TV cameras or reporters' questions.

As for his victims, they were liars out to get rich off the Catholic Church. That's what half of Boston said for months and months.

"This is just his retirement, nothing else," said abuse survivor Skip Shea of Uxbridge yesterday.

"It's routine. He's not leaving because he's being punished," said Carmen Durso, who has represented dozens of abuse survivors.

Said Borre, "They could have extended his time (at St. Mary Major Basilica). But even with this push out the door, it's very clear that he retained in Rome a network of friends and protectors."

And most people I've asked expect Law to stay in Rome, a city he reportedly adores.

A month ago I would've said well, at least we've all learned a lesson.

Then Penn State came along.

Still, some good has come from this mess. Almost no one trashes child accusers as liars out for cash anymore. Catholics in the pews are now vigilant about child safety. Catholics who bucked the odds to remain Catholic can separate their faith from the corrupt cabal of cardinals.

And many Catholics see justice around the corner as the 80-year-old Law inches ever closer to the ultimate higher authority.

They know, as he surely does, that there's just no escaping it.