Relief and sadness greeted the announcement yesterday that Cardinal Bernard Law, facing open revolt by priests and laity over his handling of sexual abuse scandals, had resigned as Archbishop of Boston. "To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes I both apologise and from them beg forgiveness," Cardinal Law said in a statement, after he submitted his resignation to Pope John Paul in the Vatican.
The Pope named Bishop Richard Gerard Lennon, an auxiliary Boston bishop, to administer the archdiocese while Rome begins the process of appointing a new archbishop.
Cardinal Law is the most senior Catholic Church official to resign since Vienna's Cardinal Hans Hermann Groer stepped down in 1995 after accusations that he once sexually molested a boy.
Nineteen Catholic bishops, nine of them Americans and one Irish, have resigned since 1990 in the context of sex scandals, and Cardinal Law's departure could increase pressure on other prelates in the US and elsewhere accused of shielding abusive priests.
Senior Vatican sources told The Irish Times it was only when 58 Boston priests signed a petition urging Dr Law to step down that the Holy See became convinced the 71-year-old prelate should go.
Coming on top of widespread protests from Boston parishioners, the letter persuaded the Vatican his position was untenable and likely to further damage the credibility of the church.
Father Robert Bullock, a leading signatory of the petition, said it was a "painful moment" and the daunting task of rebuilding would take a lot of wisdom, co-operation and effort.
Mr James Pope, president of Voice of the Faithful, the moderate lay group that on Wednesday called on the cardinal to resign immediately, said relief and hope was mixed with a profound sense of sadness, adding "what we have to do now is turn 180 degrees, use openness, not secrecy".
"Thank heaven. I hope there will be thousands of Boston Catholics and hundreds of Boston survivors who will feel better as a result," said Mr David Clohessy, director of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests.
Cardinal Law faces serious legal issues when he returns to Boston this weekend. He and seven bishops who worked with him have been subpoenaed to appear before a Boston grand jury. The cardinal is required to make depositions on sexual abuse claims during nearly his two decades as archbishop. The Massachusetts attorney general, Mr Thomas Reilly, on Thursday alleged there had been a systematic cover-up of sex crimes by Boston church officials.
Bishop Lennon, at 55 the youngest of Boston's auxiliary bishops, promised to "work towards healing as a church". As president of St John's Seminary, he is untainted by the scandals and well respected, according to Dr Stephen Pope, chairman of the theology department at Boston College.
In Dublin last night there were calls for the resignation of Cardinal Desmond Connell by Ms Marie Collins, who accused the cardinal of misleading her in 1996 when she made complaints about Father Paul McGennis.
Last night also Mr John Kelly, of Irish Survivors of Child Sex Abuse, called on Dr Connell to resign. However, Mr Colm O'Gorman of the One in Four group said he believed resignations achieved little.
Mr David Kennedy, chairman of the independent advisory panel on child sexual abuse in the Dublin Archdiocese, said he did not believe Dr Connell should resign.
Following his resignation as Bishop of Galway in 1992, it was through Cardinal Law that Bishop Éamonn Casey was found a parish in Ecuador, which has an association with the Boston Archdiocese.