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CNN Live At Daybreak

Call for Resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law

Aired December 12, 2002 - 05:42   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.


CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the crisis in the priesthood, a key figure in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is out of jail in Massachusetts. Retired priest Paul Shanley posted $300,000 bail. Shanley faces 10 counts of child rape and 6 counts of indecent assault and battery. His trial is set for next month. He also faces a number of civil lawsuits.
And on that painful subject, a group of angry Catholics has voted overwhelmingly to ask Cardinal Bernard Law to resign.

CNN's Bill Delaney has the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here us, Christ, our true...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here us, Christ, our true...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here us, Christ, our true...

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a Catholic church built for Millennia, stone by stone, on respect for authority, rebellion at a church in a pleasant, affluent Boston suburb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The extraordinary meltdown of moral authority in the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Boston.

DELANEY: Catholics of the Voice of the Faithful movement gathered to call for the resignation of Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law.

STEVE KRUEGER, VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL: We're called in a very spiritual sense through our baptism to acknowledge the responsibilities that we have to the church. Complacency on these kind of matters today in this environment is, in effect, complicity to the problem itself.

DELANEY: A problem personified for many in Boston's tumultuous archdiocese by former priest Paul Shanley, awaiting trial for allegedly raping four young men, freed the same day Voice of the Faithful voted, on $300,000 bail put up, his lawyer said, by friends and admirers. The same day, more documents alleging sexual abuse by priests released, among thousands of new documents just in the past week and a half. With the Cardinal at the Vatican to meet with, among others, cardinals expert on resignation. A meeting with the Pope expected as soon as Thursday. Perhaps the most stunning document of the week also alluding to resignation. A letter calling for it signed by more than 50 priests in the archdiocese.

REV. ROBERT BOWERS, ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON: He doesn't have what it takes now to be the archbishop of Boston. It was the knowledge that the cardinal and others in this administration had, and not just this cardinal, but his predecessor had, about the cases and their attempts to protect the church and the church's image at all costs.

DELANEY: As for costs to the church, the cardinal also met in Rome with experts at the Holy See on the possibility of the archdiocese declaring bankruptcy to confront an estimated $100 million in claims, and counting, against it.

(on camera): Many here still believe neither bankruptcy nor resignation will happen because both would leave such a permanent stain on the Archdiocese of Boston and because the Pope will simply not let the cardinal leave until all the claims against the Archdiocese of Boston are settled, but no one here was ruling anything out either.

Bill Delaney, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired December 12, 2002 - 05:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: And now to the crisis in the priesthood, a key figure in the Catholic Church sex abuse scandal is out of jail in Massachusetts. Retired priest Paul Shanley posted $300,000 bail. Shanley faces 10 counts of child rape and 6 counts of indecent assault and battery. His trial is set for next month. He also faces a number of civil lawsuits.
And on that painful subject, a group of angry Catholics has voted overwhelmingly to ask Cardinal Bernard Law to resign.

CNN's Bill Delaney has the latest on that.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here us, Christ, our true...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here us, Christ, our true...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Here us, Christ, our true...

BILL DELANEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): In a Catholic church built for Millennia, stone by stone, on respect for authority, rebellion at a church in a pleasant, affluent Boston suburb.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The extraordinary meltdown of moral authority in the Catholic Church in the Archdiocese of Boston.

DELANEY: Catholics of the Voice of the Faithful movement gathered to call for the resignation of Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law.

STEVE KRUEGER, VOICE OF THE FAITHFUL: We're called in a very spiritual sense through our baptism to acknowledge the responsibilities that we have to the church. Complacency on these kind of matters today in this environment is, in effect, complicity to the problem itself.

DELANEY: A problem personified for many in Boston's tumultuous archdiocese by former priest Paul Shanley, awaiting trial for allegedly raping four young men, freed the same day Voice of the Faithful voted, on $300,000 bail put up, his lawyer said, by friends and admirers. The same day, more documents alleging sexual abuse by priests released, among thousands of new documents just in the past week and a half. With the Cardinal at the Vatican to meet with, among others, cardinals expert on resignation. A meeting with the Pope expected as soon as Thursday. Perhaps the most stunning document of the week also alluding to resignation. A letter calling for it signed by more than 50 priests in the archdiocese.

REV. ROBERT BOWERS, ARCHDIOCESE OF BOSTON: He doesn't have what it takes now to be the archbishop of Boston. It was the knowledge that the cardinal and others in this administration had, and not just this cardinal, but his predecessor had, about the cases and their attempts to protect the church and the church's image at all costs.

DELANEY: As for costs to the church, the cardinal also met in Rome with experts at the Holy See on the possibility of the archdiocese declaring bankruptcy to confront an estimated $100 million in claims, and counting, against it.

(on camera): Many here still believe neither bankruptcy nor resignation will happen because both would leave such a permanent stain on the Archdiocese of Boston and because the Pope will simply not let the cardinal leave until all the claims against the Archdiocese of Boston are settled, but no one here was ruling anything out either.

Bill Delaney, CNN, Boston.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com