BOSTON -- As Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law awaits a meeting with the pope in Rome, word emerged that he and five other bishops were sent subpoenas to testify before a grand jury investigating possible criminal violations in the archdiocese's ongoing priest sex abuse scandal.

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State troopers delivered a subpoena to Law's residence Friday, the same day the cardinal left for Washington and then went on to Rome, reported the Boston Globe.

State Attorney General Tom Reilly told NewsCenter 5 earlier this week that his office is continuing its investigation into whether the archdiocese can be held criminally responsible for its pattern of reassigning priests who church officials knew had sexually attacked children.

"It's very difficult under the laws of this state to hold a superior criminally responsible for the acts of another," said Reilly.

In addition to Law, the Globe reported, subpoenas were issued for Bishop Thomas V. Daily of Brooklyn, N.Y., the nation's fifth-largest Catholic diocese; Bishop John B. McCormack of Manchester, N.H.; Archbishop Alfred C. Hughes of New Orleans; Bishop Robert J. Banks of Green Bay, Wis.; and Bishop William F. Murphy of Rockville Centre, N.Y.

Meanwhile, the chorus of voices calling for Law's resignation grew louder on the same day that a retired priest charged with molesting children was released on bail.

The lay reform group Voice of the Faithful said recent revelations detailing the extent of the crisis left it with no choice but to publicly declare the archdiocese in need of new leadership.

"There is a state of spiritual and moral crisis in the Archdiocese of Boston," said Jim Post, president of Voice of the Faithful, which claims a national membership of 25,000. "In my judgment, the Archdiocese of Boston has effectively been without a bishop."

Seventy-one members, each representing parishes in the Boston Archdiocese, voted Wednesday night for the motion calling for Law to step down, two were opposed and two abstained.

The vote Wednesday at Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton follows the recent release of thousands of pages of archdiocese personnel files containing allegations that, in addition to molesting young boys, some priests abused drugs and had illicit affairs.

It also comes as pressure mounts among Law's fellow priests to step down from the archdiocese he has led for nearly two decades.

Law has been at the Vatican this week meeting with church hierarchy amid speculation he may resign or get approval to declare bankruptcy in a bid to keep the Boston Archdiocese from financial ruin.

The action by Voice of the Faithful, which was started in the basement of a Wellesley church soon after the scandal erupted in January, is significant because for months its leaders have resisted pressure from many members to demand Law's resignation.

The fast-growing and controversial lay group hoped instead to work with Catholic officials for reform within the church. But now it sees no way around a confrontation with the Boston hierarchy.

In the calculations of Law and the Vatican, however, protests from the laity are probably less important than growing clergy dissent.

Fifty-eight priests delivered a letter to Law's residence Monday asking him to resign, and more priests have endorsed the document since. Separately, the 300-member Boston Priests Forum may issue its own resolution urging Law's resignation at a meeting Friday.

There are 912 priests in the archdiocesan ranks, a third of them retired, plus 732 clergymen in the region belonging to religious orders.

If pastors who lead a significant number of Boston parishes join the revolt, it could be difficult for Law to govern the archdiocese effectively.

The scandal has engulfed Boston for almost a year and pressure on Law has only increased since the archdiocese was forced to release 11,000 church personnel documents to attorneys representing hundreds of alleged victims.

So far lawyers have released about 5,400 of the documents in piecemeal fashion. They contain allegations of misconduct against 65 priests and suggest rogue clergy used drugs, abused young people -- boys and girls -- and, in one case, assaulted a housekeeper.

The personnel files released Wednesday include a letter written by Law to the Washington, D.C.-based Military Diocese in 1996 saying a priest who had been accused of molesting a boy had nothing in his past to prevent him from working with children as an Air Force chaplain.

The archdiocese issued a statement Wednesday saying it had notified the diocese for military service about the unsubstantiated allegation against the priest. A call to the archdiocese seeking further details was not returned.

The latest files also detail accusations against about a dozen priests, including one who allegedly molested a boy on 21 consecutive nights during a cross-country trip in a Winnebago.

Earlier Wednesday, the Rev. Paul R. Shanley, a central figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal, was freed on $300,000.

Shanley, who has pleaded not guilty to 10 counts of child rape, had spent seven months in jail. The 71-year-old retired priest must remain in Massachusetts and cannot have contact with anyone under 16 or with alleged victims or witnesses.

Shanley's attorney, Frank Mondano, would not disclose where Shanley will live, saying he was concerned about his client's safety, given the anger of alleged victims.

Provincetown Police Chief Ted Myer said Wednesday he had heard Shanley would be living in his town on Cape Cod, but would prefer to see Shanley live elsewhere.

Because Shanley has not been convicted, he is not required to register with police.