I got to know Cardinal Law fairly well (though not often face to face) when we were in Boston visiting family fairly regularly. Indeed, he presided over my Aunt’s funeral.
He was an orthodox bishop, who usually got into trouble for trying to bring dissident liberal priests back into line. His writings in the diocesan newspaper were always orthodox, unlike some other bishops I could name.
The chief sex offender villain was a priest who publicly argued in favor of NAMBLA and gay rights. The Boston papers, of course, supported him in this. While somewhat contradictorily lambasting the church as a den of pederasty.
In the end, Cardinal Law did indeed fail to do his job. But the basic problem was not so much anything to do with him as the fact that he had to preside over a diocese that was absolutely stuffed full of dissidents. His reputation was that of a mean conservative. If he had defrocked all of the offenders, there would hardly have been anyone left to say Mass.
In hindsight, he should have somehow handled it differently. But he was NOT a gay-enabler or a liberal sympathizer like, say, Rembert Weakland. He simply was confronted with more problems than he could manage.
That’s my take on it. All of this came out more or less after he left, so no one really had any chance to discuss it with him, as far as I know. Indeed, it was not the kind of thing that could be discussed, with the lawyers all gathering like vultures and the diocese being stripped of all the money it needed for basic building maintenance and charities.
The Communist Guardian, of course, hates Catholics and the Pope, and never misses a chance to demonize them. The more unfair the charges, the better.
That's gonna leave a mark...
Actually *many* people had a chance to discuss the issues with him!
Cardinal Law called politicians, judges, editorial writers for the Globe and the Herald and just about every Catholic who had any relevant power. He pleaded, threatened and implored them - as Catholics - to keep the lid on the scandal and overlook the crimes taking place.
Many of these people were daily communicants. They were shocked.
And that would have been a beautiful work of God. Imagine the impact he could have had if he would have announced that there is barely enough priests to say mass for a few months. Mass said by a homo is meaningless. And why did he flee