Cardinal Law Gets OK to File Bankruptcy

The victims are victims. The rest of the Catholics in the archdiocese have not done anything to the victims - the archbishop, Law, did. Thus the rest of the Catholics in the archdiocese are also victims of Law. Maybe they can sue Law to prevent him from selling or giving away their parish properties?

An interesting idea; and I do agree that just like when the Gubmint screws up, WE the citizens pay, not those who did the screwing.

My problem is that a LOT of RCC parishioners have worn the requisite Blinders-MK I, whenever ANY whiff of impropriety occurs in the RCC, and have worn them for years!
Where is the outrage at the Homosexual/Pedohilic/Apostacies in Cassocks that brought this on?

That way everyone can be a victim and sue, sue, sue. The lawyers will all get rich. And the Catholic-haters will continue to reach sexual climax at the folly of it all.

Ah, question answered...Blinders-MK I securely fastened, SIR!

Oh, BTW..."The victims are victims"...nice sympathy/compassion there. Tell it to the kids who committed SUICIDE because of what was done to them!
Were they supposed to go to ANOTHER Priest/Bishop to tell what happened to them, and risk being used/exploited/threatened?

Just shows that when the veneer is stripped off, The RCC is a business more concerned with it's assets than it's real business...the spiritual well being of the faithful!

Ah, but those suicides don't count. They all went to hell, according to dogma.

If your wife runs off with a priest, and you remarry after the divorce, you go to hell, unless you pay a bunch of money to get an annulment - which might or might not happen.

But if you're an Archbishop who marries a moonie despite orders not to, and repent after being told that finally you might lose your stripes. Molest bunches of kids and cause them to reject the church, but you repent toward the end of your life, you go to heaven while those kids go to hell.

If you want to be a married clergyman, forget it because celibacy is mandatory and sex is sinful - unless, of course, you're in the Eastern Rite, where it isn't sinful, and from which many dollars flow.

Don't you think that this bankruptcy plea is like waving a red flag for the Bankruptcy Court to go over the books of parishes with a fine tooth comb and make them a matter of public record?

I'm sorry but it's just too pat a response to be a good thing, IMHO, and -- though I can't put it into words as yet -- threatens to radically transform the Person Corporation currently being prosecuted into liable for far more than the actions of its priests/employees.

There's always the stuff in the Vatican Museums. They could take a few masterpieces out of petty cash.

Don't you think that this bankruptcy plea is like waving a red flag for the Bankruptcy Court to go over the books of parishes with a fine tooth comb and make them a matter of public record?

I don't know what to think, quite frankly. Cardinal Law can't declare bankruptcy without Vatican approval. To date, the pope has done nothing to remove Law, despite the cardinal's request to step down. Is this a clever ploy on the part of Cardinal Law to evade further questioning? Or, perhaps, the cardinal is using "attention getting" devices to attract Rome's attention.

Here in Albany, Bishop Hubbard is "going through the motions" to show his congregants that he is a man of action and compliant with the directives of the USCCB. Are these moves "genuine" or "disingenuous"? Only God can read the hearts of men.

Cardinal Law is the Don of a large criminal enterprise. When was the last time the Mafia was allowed to declare bankruptcy to get off the hook for their crimes? RICO should apply to the Diocese of Boston.

Instead of looking for the Church or the Pope to clean up this mess, the Attorney General of Massachusetts should convene a grand jury for the specific purpose of nailing Bernie Law.

A BOSTON GLOBE EDITORIAL

Cardinal's duty

12/5/2002

BISHOP ROBERT J. Banks has left Boston. So have Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes, Bishop Thomas V. Daily, and Bishop John B. McCormack. Cardinal Humberto S. Medeiros has been dead for 19 years. Of all the leading church figures implicated in the coverup of clerical abuse newly revealed this week, only Cardinal Bernard F. Law remains in the Boston Archdiocese, and his determination to continue as archbishop undermines the Catholic Church's standing in Boston.

Without Law, it would be easier to address the financial crisis caused by the lawsuits filed by people who say they have been sexually abused by priests. Many Catholics would end their informal financial boycott of archdiocesan programs, and new leadership would be better able to tap the energy of lay Catholics to resolve the crisis in ways that are fair to the victims yet supportive of the church's philanthropic and religious activities.

If Law were no longer in power, there would be much less friction with activist lay and clerical groups, who feel deeply estranged from his leadership. A new archbishop would also be able to expound Catholic positions on social issues to the wider community - a role for which Law has lost moral credibility.

Over the last several weeks, Law has elevated his public profile and sought to make amends to victims of sexual abuse. ''I have the pain of someone who made terrible mistakes and caused you pain,'' he said before a victims group in October.

Isolated mistakes did not bring on the crisis. Rather, it was a matter of deliberate policy, under Medeiros and Law, to cover up wrongdoing by priests, including sexual abuse, drug use, or assault. This is made plain by the 2,200 pages of church documents released Tuesday.

In his deposition in the Paul R. Shanley case, Law tried to wriggle out of responsibility for the cover-up. Even though he delegated much of the work to Daily, Banks, McCormack, and other subordinates, his imprint is all over the policy. By the mid-1980s, when victims were beginning to disclose their past history of abuse, Law through his secretary brushed off a letter requesting a meeting with a person alleging abuse by Shanley and two other priests. The message was clear: The church must be kept free of scandal even if it meant putting young people at risk.

Law, in his meeting with victims, said he would resign if the pope requested it. In the deposition he said, ''My mission is to try to see that the church does the right thing in the right way.''

The pope is aging and infirm, and the Vatican perhaps does not grasp the impact of the abuse scandal at its epicenter in Boston. Law has a personal responsibility to do whatever he can to repair the grievous damage already done to the archdiocese. His resignation would be the right thing to do.

This story ran on page A18 of the Boston Globe on 12/5/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.

For complete coverage of the priest abuse scandal, go to http://www.boston.com/globe/abuse

Only God can read the hearts of men.

Well ... I'll leaving the judging of their hearts to Him but still am attempting to read their Telltale Heart.

Got to be a reason for the splashes that keep coming from Boston way and ripple throughout AmChurch.

RICO should apply to the Diocese of Boston.

I figured everyone knew this much was coming.

Interesting to see this course championed here.