BOSTON -- Cardinal Bernard Law Tuesday became the first American cardinal to appear before a grand jury since the sex abuse crisis broke in January 2002.
NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Law had no comment after testifying before the panel convened by Attorney General Thomas Reilly. As he left the proceedings, it was the first time he had been seen in Boston since he resigned in early December.Law has been deposed several times by attorneys representing alleged victims of sexual abuse, but this was the first time he testified before a grand jury. The proceedings began at 9 a.m. and ended around 6 p.m.
A former assistant of Law's will testify before the grand jury Wednesday. Archbishop Alfred Hughes of the Archdiocese of New Orleans will answer questions about his time as Law's vicar for administration from 1990 to 1993.The Rev. William Maestri, Hughes' spokesman, said that Hughes was not directly responsible for assigning abusive priests to different parishes."You have the head of the curia being informed of important decisions, important barriers that have been handled, but the day-to-day operations of these really must be left to those individuals who are responsible for those areas of supervision," Maestri said.Despite denying that he made any decisions regarding clergy accused of abuse, Hughes has issued an apology in a pastoral letter to the Archdiocese of New Orleans. He also promised he would not exercise his Fifth Amendment rights at any time when he testifies before the grand jury.Also Tuesday, the archdiocese announced that it would appeal a judge's refusal to dismiss all of the clergy sex abuse cases on First Amendment grounds. In a statement, the archdiocese said that it still wants to help victims of abuse."While pursuing the appellate course, the Archdiocese remains committed to the victims for the wrongdoings of clergy," the statement read.
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