“I decided to wear my mourning suit today,” said Phil Saviano, an abuse survivor and founder of the New England chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) when he joined Jim Braude on Greater Boston to discuss the death of Cardinal Bernard Law.
“Not in recognition of the departure of Cardinal Law, but out of respect for the thousands of clergy abuse survivors who are so traumatized by their childhood experiences that they grew up to die of drug overdoses and alcoholism and suicide. Those people and their families are where my thoughts are today," he said.
Law, who became an emblem of the Catholic clergy abuse scandal in Boston, died Wednesday morning at age 86. He was propelled to notoriety when it was revealed that he and other clergymen in the archdiocese of Boston covered up decades of accusations of child sexual abuse. In December 2002, Law resigned as the archbishop of Boston and, in 2004, moved to Rome where he was appointed the archpriest at Basilica of St. Mary Major by Pope John Paul II. He resigned from that position in 2011.
“It's easy to forget, 15 years later, that at that time, the Catholic Church was the most powerful institution in the city of Boston,” said Michael Rezendes, who was on The Boston Globe Spotlight team that helped expose the abuse to the world. “Boston was the most Catholic city in America and it was a city of devout tribal Catholics. Law was a very powerful man in Boston, across the United States and at the Vatican.”
“It just struck me that he went on to a life of luxury and prominence in the Vatican,” said Boston Public Radio co-host Margery Eagan, recalling a recent tour she went on of Rome and the Vatican, during which her bus went by the Basilica of St. Mary. “It just was realizing how the salt was rubbed into the wounds.”
“In addition to living a pretty nice life, Cardinal Law also maintained a lot of influence and a lot of power at the Vatican,” Rezendes pointed out. “I think Cardinal Law saw his job as protecting the church from scandal. Cardinal Law saw his job as protecting the institution and he forgot about the people the institution was supposed to serve.”
“I always like to think if there had been a few women in those rectors we wouldn't have the problems that we’ve ended up with,” said Saviano.
As for the announcement that Law will receive a full cardinal’s funeral, complete with a final blessing from the Pope — all three were displeased.
“I think it's disgusting and I think it's a slap in the face to survivors,” said Saviano. “And I wonder just what is the message that he's sending with this sumptuous going away party.”
