THE VATICAN: Vatican sources insisted yesterday that no decisions had been taken regarding the embattled US prelate Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston who is meeting senior Curia figures in Rome. Paddy Agnew reports from Rome
Cardinal Law, the man at the epicentre of the Boston Catholic Church sex abuse crisis, flew into Rome last weekend for a series of crisis meetings focused on two key issues - whether he should resign and whether the archdiocese of Boston should apply for Chapter 11 protective bankruptcy as a way of limiting mounting claims for damages from victims of abuse.
For months, Boston parishioners have been calling on Cardinal Law to resign because of his handling of sex-offender priests under his control. On Monday, pressure increased when 58 Boston-area priests signed a letter calling for his resignation, arguing that he no longer exercised the "spiritual leadership required for the Church of Boston".
Vatican insiders yesterday confirmed that the Holy See remained reluctant about accepting a resignation that might appear to have been prompted by both US media and public opinion.
Likewise, the Holy See envisages grave moral and ethical problems about declaring the archdiocese bankrupt whilst such a decision would also contravene the Vatican's long standing financial independence from governments, worldwide.
Vatican sources argued that media speculation about the appointment of a co-adjutor bishop (a de facto managing director and an oft-used Vatican practice in difficult diocesan circumstances) was premature. The "co-adjutor" option has been touted by commentators since it allows the Vatican to move Cardinal Law without calling on him to resign.
Cardinal Law, who is expected to be in Rome at least until Friday, is believed to be staying in the Apostolic Palace in the Vatican with his good friend, US Bishop James Harvey, Prefect of the Pontifical Household. This means that the Cardinal is literally just down the corridor from Pope John Paul II, making it all the more likely that his most important meeting of the week will be with the Pope himself.