BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law said the Vatican's decision to reject elements of a sex abuse policy approved by U.S. bishops would not affect the policy now in place in the Boston Archdiocese.

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NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Law praised the Vatican's statement on the policy, saying that it shows the Vatican is trying to deal with the issue of sexual abuse in the church.

"And my reaction is that this is not a negative statement, that this statement on the part of the Holy See is setting in place a mechanism to deal with questions that the Holy See has, which are legitimate questions for the Holy See to raise," Law said.

The Vatican rejected parts of the policy approved by U.S. bishops at their conference in Dallas in June, raising concerns about due process for accused priests under canon law and vague language about what constitutes sexual abuse.

Those concerns triggered negative reaction among critics who were looking for the Vatican to send a strong message.

"They sent absolutely the wrong message," Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly said. "It would have been far better if they sent a strong message: 'These were terrible things that happened. They will not happen again. We will not tolerate under any circumstances any child being at risk of abuse anywhere in this world.'"

Attorneys for alleged victims of pedophile priests said that they also were disappointed in the statement from the Vatican.

"What the Vatican is essentially saying is that you could conceivably have again a priest who has committed a horrendous act against a child who has the potential to be reinstated into parish ministry," attorney Eric MacLeish said.

Law said that would never happen again in Boston, because of the policy he instituted, which he said does not violate church law.

"The policy that we have in place I am convinced is a policy which is soundly based upon canon law," Law said. "The policy of this archdiocese is that if someone has been responsible for the sexual abuse of a minor, that person may not have an assignment, and that is the policy of this archdiocese."

The cardinal also said that he was amazed at the timeline set by the Vatican for a final plan, hoping for a policy revision to be ready by the time U.S. bishops meet again next month.