Law Seeks Counsel At Vatican

BOSTON -- As Cardinal Bernard Law met church officials at the Vatican Monday, speculation grew that the Boston Archdiocese might file for bankruptcy or Law might resign.

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Catholics Debate Effect Of Cardinal's Possible Resignation Lawyers Discuss Options Against Church Reilly Says Criminal Case Would Be Hard To Prosecute

Law is under growing pressure to resign amid new revelations in the clergy sex abuse scandal. The cardinal went to Rome last week as well, possibly seeking advice on his future and the future of the archdiocese.

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that at St. Gerard Magella Church in Canton, Mass., where two priests were accused of sexual abuse in the past, the parish rector says the church remains a thriving community, despite the fact that the crisis continues to deepen.

"I think it's affected a lot of priests very negatively and I don't know how they're going to get out of it. They seem ... I think some people would argue that once the cardinal goes the problem will be to a great extent solved. I'm not sure that's true. I think this problem is beyond one man," said the Rev. Bernard McLaughlin.

For that reason, McLaughlin said he has not yet signed a petition being circulated among priests that calls for Law's resignation.

Attorney General Tom Reilly said Monday that even with new revelations in church documents, it would be difficult to prosecute Law. He said that Massachusetts law rarely makes superiors responsible for the actions of those under them.

Reilly said that a criminal investigation into the archdiocese and into the specific actions of priests accused of abuse is ongoing.

As for what Law's doing in Rome, the Vatican released a statement Monday morning that said the cardinal came to inform the Holy See of the situation in Boston.

McLaughlin said it may be possible Law was called to Rome because of more revelations of priest misconduct revealed last week that Law mishandled.

"There are a lot of people in Rome who read newspapers every day who I'm sure stay on top of it and I'm sure ... it would be unbelievable to me that they don't go and say to the pope, 'This is a real mess and it's going to affect you and us and ... it's wrong, for starters,'" McLaughlin said.

As for the cardinal's resignation, McLaughlin said it would only be a first good step.

"If [the public] have any kind of assumption, implicit or not, that this is going to solve the problem, it is not. The problem is going to persist and I think using all their energy and all their talent to be sure that the culture changes, the culture of arrogance, the culture of secrecy, until those things change, it doesn't make a difference who has the title," he said.

Lawyers for alleged victims of abuse said that they considering how to respond to the possibility of the church declaring bankruptcy. Attorney Eric MacLeish said that his clients are more willing to settle cases.

"At some point there's got to be peace," he said.

MacLeish said that his clients are telling him that they believe the recent release of more internal church documents that detailed past allegations against priests has helped ensure that it won't happen again.

"It's still would be a tremendous challenge to settle all these cases, but people that I talk to that were here in this room last week call me up and say, 'We are now prepared to consider settling our claims, because we feel as though ... we have gotten the message out about what was happening here in the Boston Archdiocese," MacLeish said.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian, however, said that he still plans to fight in court on behalf of his clients.

"I'd rather continue with the litigation in Superior Court, at least that's what part of me tells me," Garabedian said. "The other part is if they continue in bankruptcy, we'll just fight it in bankruptcy. Whatever the fight is, the fight is. We're going to be there. These victims will be there."

Lawyers are also trying to get all possible church documents released before the church files for bankruptcy, which would stop further discovery. MacLeish said that documents to be released tomorrow will detail allegations that one victim was abused by three different priests.

MacLeish also said that he has contacted Law's attorneys to ask for written assurances that Law will appear at a Dec. 17 deposition, but he has not yet heard back from them.