BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law is discussing his resignation with Vatican officials in Rome, several news agencies reported Thursday.

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Vatican Watchers Speculate About Possible Resignation Riley Says Church Has Not Been Cooperating Calls Increase For Law's Resignation

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda said that the Vatican has confirmed that Law will meet with Pope John Paul the II on Friday.

Under church law, the cardinal must submit his resignation to the pope who can accept or reject it. Meanwhile, Attorney General Tom Reilly has confirmed a grand jury is investigating the church.

Vatican watchers said that what matters most right now about Law's future is the meeting he is supposed to have on Friday.

"I think there are some indications, and I emphasize indications, that this may be moving in that direction. Some of the sources I spoke with this morning indicated that there is movement in that direction -- especially because of that letter signed by 58 priests which has, I think, really gotten people's attention around here," National Catholic Reporter spokesman John Allen said.

The Rev. Bernard McLaughlin is one of the priests who signed the letter urging law to resign. If the reports that he has are true, he said that it is a good first step.

"I think it needed to happen. I think he became a roadblock for progress and he simply needed to get out of the way, which might sound cruel to some people, but I think it was a necessity," McLaughlin said.

The cardinal and five of his former bishops are under the dark cloud of a subpoena by the state attorney general to testify before a grand jury investigation into possible crimes in the supervision of child molesting priests, Barreda said.

"I think very much that anybody who appears before a grand jury with the possibility of being indicted for having committed any crime, that that person is a burden on the institution," McLaughlin said.

"The focus here in Rome has been so much on bankruptcy and Law's personal future that the potential implications of that subpoena haven't registered. However, I would say that it doesn't help from the point of view of what they might be thinking ought to happen with Cardinal Law. Cardinal Law came to Rome this past weekend as someone who is under siege and significantly weakened. I think the events of this week have made his bad situation significantly worse," Allen said.

Attorney General Tom Reilly acknowledged that a grand jury has been convened.

"I am not going to make a final decision on criminal charges until we have the facts. That is why I authorized the use of a grand jury," Reilly said.

It is not clear whether word of the subpoenas has reached the Vatican yet. The cardinal is said to have gotten his last Friday -- the same day he left Boston.

"We looked at this and it became clear that there was an elaborate system not to report these crimes to law enforcement. This never should have gotten to this point. This is a leadership problem. They thought that it was more important to protect the church, and as a result of that, countless children were harmed. The church cared more about itself than the kids and that is wrong. There certainly was a cover-up," Reilly said.

Reilly said that the investigation has revealed that the alleged cover-up extends far beyond Law.

"This church needs to change its ways. Children and the protection of children comes first," This should have been dealt with decades ago and children would have been sparred," Reilly said.

While the Vatican remains tightlipped about how Law's meetings in Rome have been progressing, the press office there has promised some kind of statement once Law sits down with the pope to discuss his future.

"I really don't know what's going to happen when he meets with the pope tomorrow. I would guess that given the atmosphere in Rome, the pope is hearing a lot of people suggest that he should accept the resignation," Catholic World Report Editor Phillip Lawler said.

The calls for Law's resignation are coming at an ever accelerating rate. Wednesday night, the lay group the Voice of the Faithful voted overwhelmingly to ask Law to resign.

Survivors of Abuse by Priests, who have long been saying the cardinal should step aside, said that there's no way he can continue as leader of the archdiocese.

"I think that he's rendered himself irrelevant in terms of his ability to lead this diocese," Survivors of Abuse by Priests member Bill Gately said.

But Lawler cautions, the pope will rarely make a decision based on public opinion. Still, he said that allowing Law to continue in a position of leadership could be devastating.

"If Cardinal Law comes back from Rome with a message of an encouragement and a pat on the back from the pope, I think the situation would be explosive." Lawler said.

The cardinal is said to be returning to Boston on Saturday. If he resigns, there is a possibility that the Vatican will wait to announce it until he gets a chance to inform his own people and his own archdiocese first.