{"id":2376,"date":"2017-12-20T23:20:28","date_gmt":"2017-12-21T07:20:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=2376"},"modified":"2017-12-21T22:17:25","modified_gmt":"2017-12-22T06:17:25","slug":"the-hurt-is-still-there-abuse-survivors-grapple-with-cardinals-death-the-new-york-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldcampaign.net\/?p=2376","title":{"rendered":"“\u2018The Hurt Is Still There\u2019: Abuse Survivors Grapple With Cardinal\u2019s Death”, The New York Times"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Katharine Q. Seelye<\/span>\u00a0and <\/span>Laurie Goodstein,\u00a0<\/span><\/span>

BOSTON \u2014 News of the death of Cardinal Bernard F. Law, who failed to remove sexually abusive priests from the ministry when he was archbishop of Boston, drew a sulfurous outcry in his old archdiocese on Wednesday from survivors still in pain from having been betrayed by the church they trusted.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope the gates of hell are open wide to welcome him,\u201d Alexa MacPherson, 42, said at a news conference. Another survivor, Robert Costello, 56, called the Catholic Church \u201cthe world\u2019s largest pedophile ring.\u201d<\/p>\n

More than any other figure, Cardinal Law has been the American face of the church\u2019s abuse scandal since 2002, when investigative reporting by The Boston Globe revealed the scope of the church\u2019s cover-up, including a practice called \u201cpass the trash\u201d that shifted abusive priests from one parish to another.<\/p>\n

It has been 15 years since the scandal forced Cardinal Law to resign in disgrace, but his death in Rome reopened old wounds for survivors. And their lawyers arranged for them to speak publicly.<\/p>\n

Mitchell Garabedian, who said he has represented more than 500 people who were abused by Catholic priests, said his clients told him they felt cheated that the cardinal was never brought to justice, and was promoted to a prestigious position in Rome instead. \u201cWith all due respect,\u201d he said, \u201csociety has not lost a great protector of children with the passing of Cardinal Law.\u201d<\/p>\n

The reaction in Boston was so visceral that Cardinal Sean P. O\u2019Malley, Cardinal Law\u2019s successor in the archdiocese, held a news conference on Wednesday and took questions from reporters, something he very rarely does.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Wearing a red scull cap and the flowing brown habit of his Franciscan order, the soft-spoken cardinal acknowledged that the death of Cardinal Law at 86, after a long illness, had brought pain to the surface.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have anticipated this day, recognizing that it would open a lot of old wounds and cause much pain and anger in those who have suffered so much already,\u201d he said. \u201cWe share in their suffering.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said Cardinal Law\u2019s personal legacy was broader than the clergy abuse scandal, noting that he had been engaged in the struggle for civil rights and in reaching out to immigrants, the poor and the sick.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll of us are more than one-dimensional,\u201d Cardinal O\u2019Malley told reporters. \u201cTo be realistic, you have to recognize that there was more to this man than his mistakes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked if he had forgiven Cardinal Law, Cardinal O\u2019Malley said, \u201cForgiveness is what Christianity is about, and that doesn\u2019t make it easy.\u201d He added: \u201cThis is not something that has been solved. Right now, the hurt is still there, the healing is still necessary, and we must all be vigilant.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Cardinal Sean O\u2019Malley, the current Archbishop of Boston, paused on Wednesday while speaking to reporters in Braintree, Mass., about Cardinal Law\u2019s death.<\/span>Credit<\/span>Bill Sikes\/Associated Press <\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Vatican said that Cardinal Law would be accorded a full, traditional funeral Mass on Thursday at St. Peter\u2019s Basilica in Rome, presided over by the dean of the College of Cardinals, Angelo Sodano, and including a closing rite by Pope Francis.<\/p>\n

Such funerals are standard protocol when a cardinal dies, but the announcement nonetheless infuriated some survivors.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe is responsible for damaging thousands of children and their families, let alone the people that committed suicide,\u201d Mr. Costello said in an interview. He was abused by a priest at his parish in West Roxbury, Mass. for eight years, from the age of 8. \u201cTo publicly have this Mass just means they haven\u2019t learned a damned thing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cardinal O\u2019Malley was asked whether such a funeral was appropriate. \u201cI understand the difficulty with that,\u201d he responded, adding that he would not be attending the service, having just returned from Rome.<\/p>\n

He then acknowledged another troubling aspect of Cardinal Law\u2019s career \u2014 that after his role in the scandal was revealed, Pope John Paul II made him high priest of one of Rome\u2019s four major churches, the magnificent Basilica of St. Mary Major. The cushy post came with a spacious apartment that was said to be the envy of Vatican officials.<\/p>\n

The cardinal also continued to serve on several Vatican committees, including the powerful Congregation for Bishops, which makes recommendations to the pope on appointments. That post let him continue to reward his prot\u00e9g\u00e9s and influence who became bishops in the United States and elsewhere.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s unfortunate that he\u2019s had such a high profile in the life of the church,\u201d Cardinal O\u2019Malley said. These days, he said, \u201cthat kind of a decision would not be made, but unfortunately we\u2019re living with the consequences of that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cardinal O\u2019Malley was appointed to take charge and soothe the Boston Archdiocese about six months after Cardinal Law resigned. It was the third diocese he was sent to clean up following a sexual abuse scandal, after those of Fall River, Mass., and Palm Beach, Fla.<\/p>\n

In the first year of his papacy, Pope Francis chose Cardinal O\u2019Malley to lead a new initiative, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors. Expectations were high for the commission, which included lay men and women, experts on abuse and two survivors of sexual abuse by priests. The pope gave them the task of finding the best practices for protecting children, and spreading them in the church around the world, including countries where church leaders denied that child abuse had ever occurred.<\/p>\n

The commission, now four years old, has proved a disappointment to many church observers and abuse victims. An initiative to create a tribunal to judge and discipline bishops accused of covering up abuse was abandoned, with Pope Francis saying the Vatican already had mechanisms for doing that. The two abuse survivors quit in frustration, the pope has yet to replace them, and the commission has lapsed into inactivity, according to the National Catholic Reporter, an American news outlet.<\/p>\n

Cardinal O\u2019Malley defended the commission\u2019s work on Wednesday, saying it was trying to reach people in different parts of the world where sex abuse is not discussed. He said that when he traveled abroad to speak on the issue, he always brought an abuse survivor with him. He said the commission had used funding as leverage to get child protection policies and programs established.<\/p>\n

Finally, Cardinal O\u2019Malley was asked whether he believed the Lord welcomed Cardinal Law\u2019s soul into heaven.<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope that everyone goes to heaven,\u201d he said. \u201cThis is what the mission of the church is. But I am not here to sit in judgment of anybody.\u201d<\/p>\n