Bernard Law
Archbishop of Boston, 1984–2002. The Massachusetts attorney general’s report of 2003 found that he had known for many years of the abuse of children by priests of the archdiocese, and found no basis for criminal charges against the archdiocese or its senior managers.
Bernard Francis Law was born at Torreón in Mexico on 4 November 1931, the son of a United States Air Force officer, and was ordained a priest for the diocese of Natchez-Jackson in Mississippi in 1961 (Holy See Press Office, Biographical Notes on the Cardinals: Law). He became bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau in 1973, was appointed archbishop of Boston by John Paul II in January 1984, and was made a cardinal in 1985 (Holy See Press Office, Biographical Notes on the Cardinals: Law).
The Massachusetts attorney general’s report of 2003 found “overwhelming evidence” that Law and his senior managers had known for many years that substantial numbers of children in the archdiocese had been abused by its priests (Massachusetts Attorney General, Report on the Archdiocese of Boston (2003) p. 25). The same report found no basis for criminal charges against the archdiocese or its senior managers (Massachusetts Attorney General, Report on the Archdiocese of Boston (2003) p. 22). Law resigned in December 2002 (Massachusetts Attorney General, Report on the Archdiocese of Boston (2003) p. 30); see the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis. From 2004 to 2011 he was archpriest of the basilica of St Mary Major in Rome, and he died on 20 December 2017 (Holy See Press Office, Biographical Notes on the Cardinals: Law).
In the timeline
- 6 January 2002, firm dateThe Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis
From January 2002, reports from Boston and then official inquiries in the United States, Ireland and Australia document the sexual abuse of children by Catholic clergy and its concealment by church authorities. Popes change church law. Reports on other churches follow.