But the roots of the archbishop of Boston's demise lay in a simple admission he made in court papers in June 2001 and then reaffirmed with a damning repetition.
He knew.
He knew about allegations that John J. Geoghan, the now-convicted child molester, had been attacking little boys and returned him to parish work nevertheless.
He knew that the Rev. James D. Foley had fathered two children with a woman who later died from a drug overdose after going to bed with him, and yet he kept Foley in active ministry until this month. Photo Law
Law knew that the Rev. Peter J. Frost was an admitted sex addict and child abuser and still held open the prospect of future ministry for him.
With an undeniable certainty, the cardinal's own words, revealed in documents forced from locked chancery filing cabinets by court order, confirmed that knowledge.
Law blamed sloppy record-keeping. He blamed a leadership style in which he delegated tough personnel decisions to subordinates. He said he tragically had relied on now-outdated medical advice to return predatory clergymen to churches where they enjoyed access to children. Photo TIME Washington Post - J Mitchell
And for a time, as last winter's seismic revelations about widespread clergy sexual abuse began to fade, it appeared Law might survive the storm.
But when the year ended as it began - with a release of graphic court records last week that made clear that Law's knowledge about abusive priests was more extensive than he had acknowledged - the cardinal's paper-thin support was swept away. Photo MMCalling
''It struck like an explosion and things were suddenly worse than they were at the beginning,'' said Thomas H. O'Connor, a Boston College historian. ''If there had been any wiggle room at all, it was now gone.''
The beginning of the end for Law and his 18-year tenure in Boston came in the summer of 2001 after 86 people who said Geoghan had assaulted them as children filed civil lawsuits against Geoghan and his supervisors. In response, Law acknowledged that within six months of his arrival here in 1984, he knew Geoghan was notified of charges that Geoghan had molested seven boys. Photo People -M Mitchell Speaking
That admission, and a judge's ruling to unseal Geoghan's court file, triggered months of reporting by the Globe that showed that it took a succession of three cardinals and many bishops 34 years to place children beyond Geoghan's reach. Read complete article & archives - By Thomas Farragher, Boston Globe Staff, 12/14/2002
Watergate (Again)?
___________________
Someday, maybe,
there will exist a well-informed,
well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction
that the most deadly of all possible sins
is the
mutilation of a child's spirit.
Does the Vatican Really Oppose Murdering Gay People?- BY MICHAEL A. JONES
March 23, 2002,Springfield priest cites cost for speaking out, By Kevin Cullen, Globe Staff
Irish church and police covered up child sex abuse, says report – byHenry McDonald,guardian.co.uk, 26 November 2009
The Watergate Story - The Post Investigates, The Washington Post
Lutherans lift barrier on gay clergy - By Duke Helfand - August 21, 2009 – Los Angeles Times
Episcopal leaders affirm new policy on same-sex blessings, By Duke Helfand - Los Angeles Times
US Catholic Bishopsthreaten the moral 'fabric of society' and the sanctityof Gay marriages
Psychologists repudiategay-to-straight therapy By DAVID CRARY - The Associated Press (AP)
Watergate Deep Throat, the informant who helped topple Nixon, dies at 95 – Dec. 2008 - Mail Online
Pope John Paul II -- No Irreconcilable Differences between Science and Religion
KIDS ARE BEING HURT!!! Good Friday - Tony Blair, Gays, Benedict XVI
US Catholic Bishopsthreaten the moral 'fabric of society' and the sanctityGay unions – 2009
This about the reckless endangerment of childrenin a calculated, purposeful strategy to protect the institutional Church - By Jason Walsh - The Christian Science Monitor – CSMonitor.com
Pope 'led cover-up of child abuse by priests' – London Evening Standard – standard.co.uk
Child Protection Service of the Archdiocese of Dublin,November 2009 -Report by Commission of Investigation into the handling by Church and State authorities of allegations and suspicions of child abuse against clerics of the CatholicArchdiocese of Dublin. Read complete report->Report by Commission of Investigation into Catholic Archdiocese of Dublin
Someday, maybe,
there will exist a well-informed,
well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction
that the most deadly of all possible sins
is the
mutilation of a child's spirit.
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