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CNN Live At Daybreak
Catholic Church and Controversy Involving Boston's Cardinal Law
Aired December 13, 2002 - 05:02 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: We want to get back to our lead story now, the Catholic Church and the controversy involving Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law. Cardinal Law is scheduled to meet with the pope in Rome about 20 minutes from now, and we're told he may offer his resignation once again. In addition to that, Cardinal Law may soon have to answer questions from a Massachusetts grand jury investigating the child sex abuse scandal. The leader of the Boston Archdiocese has been subpoenaed along with seven bishops.
The Massachusetts attorney general accuses the church of an elaborate cover-up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS REILLY, MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL: There was a cover-up. There was an elaborate scheme to keep it away from law enforcement and to keep it quiet. The church, or the leadership of the church -- and this is a leadership problem, this is a management problem, this is not a faith problem -- felt that it was more important to protect the church than children. And as a result of that, needless numbers of, countless numbers of children were harmed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And the harm done to those children has now led to today's day of reckoning in Rome, when Cardinal Law meets with the pope.
We want to go live to Rome now and CNN's Vatican analyst Delia Gallagher -- good morning.
DELIA GALLAGHER, JOURNALIST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Now, he's meeting with the pope in the pope's private residence, is that right?
GALLAGHER: That's right. He has an audience with the pope, as most cardinals do when they come over. But of course we know that the subject of this audience will be much more important this morning. We do expect him to offer his resignation. And the word this morning is that the people is inclined to accept that resignation -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Now, would the pope allow Cardinal Law to come back to Boston to resign or would he keep him in Rome, do you think?
GALLAGHER: Oh, no, it would be expected that he would go back to Boston and resign officially from Boston. Of course, he has to go back to Boston. He has to answer to the criminal charges there starting next week. So it is understood that even if he does resign and the word comes out officially from Rome, he will have to return to Boston and face the music there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: What about the bankruptcy issue?
GALLAGHER: Well, the bankruptcy issue was discussed with some Vatican officials and we don't have official word on it, but we assume that the cardinal was encouraged not to allow his archdiocese to go into bankruptcy. The Vatican is always very concerned about any issues where the church and the state collide. And obviously bankruptcy would be one of those issues that they would be very sensitive to. And we understand that they have encouraged the cardinal to avoid bankruptcy if at all possible.
COSTELLO: There is some word out there that the Vatican is worried that this scandal will rub off on it. Have you heard that?
GALLAGHER: Well, not necessarily, Carol, because this has been seen the whole time from the Vatican as very much an American bishops and cardinals issue that needed to be dealt with by the American cardinals. And that's why you saw the delay in the Vatican action towards this problem. Now they understand that they needed to take it in hand a little bit more and that's what we've seen with the various meetings and documents that have gone on in the past few months.
COSTELLO: Understand. Let's talk a little bit about the process now, to keep our viewers up to date. The pope will meet with Cardinal Bernard Law in his residence. That's happening about 15 minutes from now. And isn't is tradition that if a public statement is released that it would be released noon your time, which would be 6:00 a.m. Eastern our time?
GALLAGHER: Well, it will be released around noon, could be 1:00, even, but certainly before the afternoon is out we will have the official notification from the Vatican as to what went on in that meeting. But let's keep in mind that it's not going to be anything too detailed, but it will give us the basic gist of the conversation and the end result, which is the most important thing -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Delia Gallagher, thanks for your insight.
We'll get back to you throughout the morning here on DAYBREAK.
And we'll go live to both Boston and the Vatican during AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN. That's on from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Cardinal Law>
Aired December 13, 2002 - 05:02 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: We want to get back to our lead story now, the Catholic Church and the controversy involving Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law. Cardinal Law is scheduled to meet with the pope in Rome about 20 minutes from now, and we're told he may offer his resignation once again. In addition to that, Cardinal Law may soon have to answer questions from a Massachusetts grand jury investigating the child sex abuse scandal. The leader of the Boston Archdiocese has been subpoenaed along with seven bishops.
The Massachusetts attorney general accuses the church of an elaborate cover-up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
THOMAS REILLY, MASSACHUSETTS ATTORNEY GENERAL: There was a cover-up. There was an elaborate scheme to keep it away from law enforcement and to keep it quiet. The church, or the leadership of the church -- and this is a leadership problem, this is a management problem, this is not a faith problem -- felt that it was more important to protect the church than children. And as a result of that, needless numbers of, countless numbers of children were harmed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
COSTELLO: And the harm done to those children has now led to today's day of reckoning in Rome, when Cardinal Law meets with the pope.
We want to go live to Rome now and CNN's Vatican analyst Delia Gallagher -- good morning.
DELIA GALLAGHER, JOURNALIST: Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: Now, he's meeting with the pope in the pope's private residence, is that right?
GALLAGHER: That's right. He has an audience with the pope, as most cardinals do when they come over. But of course we know that the subject of this audience will be much more important this morning. We do expect him to offer his resignation. And the word this morning is that the people is inclined to accept that resignation -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Now, would the pope allow Cardinal Law to come back to Boston to resign or would he keep him in Rome, do you think?
GALLAGHER: Oh, no, it would be expected that he would go back to Boston and resign officially from Boston. Of course, he has to go back to Boston. He has to answer to the criminal charges there starting next week. So it is understood that even if he does resign and the word comes out officially from Rome, he will have to return to Boston and face the music there -- Carol.
COSTELLO: What about the bankruptcy issue?
GALLAGHER: Well, the bankruptcy issue was discussed with some Vatican officials and we don't have official word on it, but we assume that the cardinal was encouraged not to allow his archdiocese to go into bankruptcy. The Vatican is always very concerned about any issues where the church and the state collide. And obviously bankruptcy would be one of those issues that they would be very sensitive to. And we understand that they have encouraged the cardinal to avoid bankruptcy if at all possible.
COSTELLO: There is some word out there that the Vatican is worried that this scandal will rub off on it. Have you heard that?
GALLAGHER: Well, not necessarily, Carol, because this has been seen the whole time from the Vatican as very much an American bishops and cardinals issue that needed to be dealt with by the American cardinals. And that's why you saw the delay in the Vatican action towards this problem. Now they understand that they needed to take it in hand a little bit more and that's what we've seen with the various meetings and documents that have gone on in the past few months.
COSTELLO: Understand. Let's talk a little bit about the process now, to keep our viewers up to date. The pope will meet with Cardinal Bernard Law in his residence. That's happening about 15 minutes from now. And isn't is tradition that if a public statement is released that it would be released noon your time, which would be 6:00 a.m. Eastern our time?
GALLAGHER: Well, it will be released around noon, could be 1:00, even, but certainly before the afternoon is out we will have the official notification from the Vatican as to what went on in that meeting. But let's keep in mind that it's not going to be anything too detailed, but it will give us the basic gist of the conversation and the end result, which is the most important thing -- Carol.
COSTELLO: All right, Delia Gallagher, thanks for your insight.
We'll get back to you throughout the morning here on DAYBREAK.
And we'll go live to both Boston and the Vatican during AMERICAN MORNING WITH PAULA ZAHN. That's on from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Eastern time.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Cardinal Law>
