Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law Goes Under Oath in Church Sex Abuse Scandal
Aired May 08, 2002 - 10:38 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Boston's cardinal Bernard Law goes under oath, and under the microscope today, in the church sex abuse scandal. Law is being deposed in a civil lawsuit against defrocked pedophile priest John Geoghan. The cardinal has been under scrutiny because the archdiocese shuttled Geoghan from parish to parish, despite repeated allegations against him. Another former Boston-area priest was arraigned last hour. Ronald Paquin is charged with one count of rape. Prosecutors say the charge involves more than 50 incidents over a two-year period. The alleged victim was 12 at the time that the rape allegedly began.
We want to talk more about the deposition of cardinal Law and the church sex abuse scandal with Frank Bruni. He's a staff writer for "The New York Times Magazine." He has a fascinating piece coming out in this Sunday's edition titled, "Am I My Brother's Keeper?" We are going to get to that article in just a moment. Frank Bruni joining us from Washington this morning.
Frank, good morning. Good to is have you with us.
FRANK BRUNI, "THE NEW YORK TIMES MAGAZINE": Nice to be here.
KAGAN: You have been covering this topic for quite a few years. When you see a day like today, when cardinal Law, basically forced by a judge to undergo this deposition today, what's your reaction to that?
BRUNI: Well, it's an illustration of just how aggressive the country is starting to be after a long period of not being aggressive at all about finding out what's been going on in the church and doing something about it. Civil lawyers, prosecutors, detectives, victim advocates and the media, everybody is paying much more attention to this than they did in the past, which is very important, because it's been going on for a long time.
KAGAN: Well, even from judges. I mean, when this judge said to the cardinal, you must undergo the deposition, she was suggesting things like the cardinal would skip country, would become an ambassador, would be unavailable, has ordered that this deposition be videotaped today in case he's not available in the future. It's almost a completely different level of respect for somebody in this position. BRUNI: You know, it's really fascinating. I think five years ago, there was an assumption that church leaders basically acting in good faith, that priest who molested children were abhorrent cases. Now, as you point out, with the attitude that the judge expressed before the cardinal, it's almost like their figures of the utmost suspicion. And it's a real indication of the sea change in opinion in this country and skepticism in this country about how the church has handled the issue of child sexual abuse.
KAGAN: As I mentioned, you've been covering this a long time, your book, "Gospel of Shame," where you look at the church and allegations of sex abuse and the abuse of children. That came out in '93 for the first time.
BRUNI: And it's coming out again in paperback next month. And, yes, the problem was so widespread already in the early '90s that there were dozens, scores of cases for...
KAGAN: But when you came out then and wrote about it, I would imagine completely you had a completely different reaction than people give right now.
BRUNI: Well, it was being covered, but there was still a sense of disbelief about it. There was still, in many of the reviews of the book, there was the expressed opinion that probably it was making too much of a little thing, and now people see that the dimensions of this keep growing. I think the dimensions are bigger than we we even realize right now. I think that's one of the reasons why the archdiocese of Boston wanted to back out of the settlement agreement with victims, because I think they're only beginning understand that the pool of victims out there may be limitless, and their finances aren't.
KAGAN: Right, there are huge financial implications, and we've talked about that in the past, and will in the future. One of the other implications, this cycle of abuse that tends to happen when you're talking about sexual abuse, and you get to that in this article that comes out, as I said, this Sunday, in "The New York Times" magazine, and it's a story of is it the Closey (ph) brothers? Is that how you say their last name?
BRUNI: It's the Klossy (ph) family. And it's a story of how child sexual abuse by a priest, the various impacts it had on their family, very unique impacts.
One of two brothers were apparently molested by the same priest who was a close family friend. One of them grew up to be one of the premier victim advocates in this country. You probably had him on CNN a number of times.
And the other brother went on to be a priest, and ended up being removed from the priesthood for a short period of time because he faced his own accusations that he had sexually abused a younger person.
It's a fascinating story about the paths they took, the incredibly uneasy relationship they have, one being a priest in the church, one being someone suing and advocating against the church. That's what it explores.
KAGAN: And the difficult, difficult choice of the one brother. Does he turn in his other brother who he believes want to be a victim, but also perhaps a perpetrator.
BRUNI: Yes. That brother the one who faced the dilemma had both witting and unwilling role in the change of events that lead to his brother, who was the priest, actually being in media reports as an abuser, and felt very, very conflicted about it, because on the one hand, you know, he believes this issue should be brought to public light. On the other hand, he loves his brother.
KAGAN: It is his brother. It is fascinating story. And nothing bring the pains and difficulty of the entire story to life when you tell through the personal eyes of individuals. And like I said, it's coming out this Sunday. "New York Times Magazine," Frank Bruni, thank you so much for giving us a preview look at that.
BRUNI: Bruni.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
