BOSTON -- In a deposition released Thursday, Cardinal Bernard Law defended his handling of a priest who fathered two children.

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Law Defends Actions

NewsCenter 5's Amalia Barreda reported that Law admitted he was shocked when the Rev. James D. Foley confessed his affair with the married woman, but Law said he was too busy to personally oversee the case and decided it was better not to tell the priest's children the truth.

Foley fathered two children with a Needham woman who died of an overdose in his presence in 1973. The initials BCL on handwritten notes made by the Rev. John McCormack in 1993 indicate Law learned the details from Foley himself.

Despite his admitted concern about the potential for scandal, Law testified he did not oversee the Foley matter, including whether the police should be notified about the woman's death. He instead delegated the matter to McCormack, now a bishop in New Hampshire.

"I really delegate with confidence here, and I can't read back into what I should have thought or would have thought," Law said in the Jan. 22 deposition.

Children of the woman said they were surprised to learn that Law didn't handle the matter personally.

"I'm shocked to find out that he didn't take more interest in a case where there's a priest who was alleged to have fathered a couple of children," said Jim Perry, a son of the woman. "I would have thought he would have wanted to look into that personally."

Another son, Rich Perry, said that his family had been trying to discover the facts surrounding their mother's death.

"He claims that, 'If you knew the truth it would hurt you,'" Rich Perry said. "You know what? I totally disrespect that answer. It just isn't accurate. We've been searching -- our whole family's been searching -- for why did our mother die?"

In the deposition, Law was pressed for explanations by attorney Eric Macleish about his role in the Foley matter and his concerns for the children.

"I didn't know anything about the family," Law said. "I didn't know anything about the children. I didn't know their name. I don't know their name."

After being sent away for treatment, Foley was returned to ministry. Law assigned him to Rich Perry's home parish in Stoughton, Mass.