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American Morning

Interview with Thomas O'Neill III

Aired April 11, 2002 - 07:07   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: In Boston this morning, Cardinal Bernard Law faces a growing chorus of calls for his resignation. Until now, Law has been able to weather the storm of scandal in the Boston Archdiocese. But church documents just released in a lawsuit involving Father Paul Shanley suggests Law knew of the priest's pedophilia and did nothing to keep him from interacting with children.

Well, yesterday, two newspapers and two Democratic candidates for governor of Massachusetts all called for Law's resignation. And this morning, we are joined by Thomas O'Neill III, the son of former House Speaker Tip O'Neill and former Massachusetts lieutenant governor, who joins us from Boston this morning -- good to see you -- welcome, sir.

THOMAS O'NEILL III, FMR. MASSACHUSETTS LT. GOVERNOR: Good morning.

ZAHN: Good morning. So you no doubt are focused in on these editorials calling for Cardinal Law to resign. Do you expect that to happen?

O'NEILL: Well, I was saying to your producer earlier that there was a rumor passed on last evening that perhaps might happen today, but I can't substantiate that, and I really don't know anything more than that about it.

ZAHN: I know you attended a meeting with top business and community leaders with Cardinal Law about three weeks ago. Did he give any hint at that time that this was a real possibility?

O'NEILL: No, he acted like he was really taking people's advice and counsel and weighing it all, and he obviously hasn't made a decision until this point in time.

ZAHN: I know you are a lifelong practicing Catholic. Have you reached a decision whether you think that would be the right thing for him to do?

O'NEILL: Oh, I do. I think that he ought to step aside, and the reason for that is I love my church dearly. And so I share the feeling of so many Catholics, not only in this archdiocese, but across America.

ZAHN: The "Boston Globe" wrote yesterday that Cardinal Law, for many years, misgauged the priorities by placing the reputation of the church above the welfare of its children. Do you agree?

O'NEILL: Yes, I do agree, and I think because of that, it would be nearly impossible for his cardinal and this leader of the American Catholic Church to continue on providing spiritual leadership.

ZAHN: So as you said in that meeting with Cardinal Law, and you got the distinct impression he wasn't considering that, is that something that bothered you?

O'NEILL: Well, I tried to pass along to him some advice and counsel very simply along these lines. That we must, as a church, really try to figure out how we re-involve our young people back into the life of the church and its future, and how we really begin to understand the role of women in the church, both in the clergy and out. And not treat this issue as a public relations issue simply, or as an issue of a horrible side effect of something called pedophilia, but at its core there is something principally and basically wrong. And that is that the priesthood in a lot of ways is dysfunctional. It must be reformed, and that message must be taken to the Vatican in Rome.

ZAHN: I know when I was working in Boston, you were a strong supporter of the cardinal when he first came to town. What was the last straw for you?

O'NEILL: The last straw for me frankly was the spate of stories that has come out, but frankly, the amount of hurt perpetrated on so many young people and families throughout the Archdiocese of Boston just passed along year after year, and that these stories keep getting to a point where they are being uncovered and just laid out before the public here in Boston. Enough is enough. There has been entirely too much hurt, and the healing process has got to begin.

ZAHN: In a personal sense, though, this has not been an easy journey for you either, has it.

O'NEILL: I didn't expect to find myself on CNN News this morning to be perfectly honest with you, but the fact of the matter is somebody from one of the local newspapers asked me a question yesterday, and I answered it as honestly as I could. And I felt that if I could speak for others that didn't have the same opportunity to speak out for themselves, then I was going to do that.

ZAHN: Is there anybody defending Cardinal Law at this point?

O'NEILL: I am sure he has a few supporters, and I hope they are wishing him the very best. I would only hope that this cardinal would understand that this is -- this church is in a world of hurt. It needs to begin a healing process, and it needs a new spiritual leadership, and I hope that he, with all of that understanding, would move aside and allow this church to go on and grow stronger.

ZAHN: In this very tough editorial yesterday, the "Boston Globe" also wrote that the cardinal -- "The documents from the church itself showed definitively that church officials were aware of Shanley's predator sexual practices with young boys in his charge over a period of decades and did almost nothing about it." Does the cardinal have any moral authority left?

O'NEILL: Not that I can see, and for that principal reason, I think that it's really incumbent upon him to step aside and allow this church to breathe easier and to kind of reclaim itself. As I said, it's time to figure out the future role for our youth in the Catholic Church, the role of women and the role of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) frankly. As we look at the dysfunctional aspects of so much of our clergy, we must bring into question the role and the look of the priesthood in the Catholic Church. And until he removes himself, we are just not going to be able to ask ourselves those questions.

ZAHN: And of course, another issue that's being seriously debated now is whether homosexuals should be even allowed into the priesthood. Where do you see that debate going?

O'NEILL: Well, I think it certainly exists there. I think there has been some degree of laxity in the admission of young men coming into the priesthood over the years. I think that's one issue. I think the issue of women must dealt with. I think the issue of molestation has got to be dealt with. But at its core, the reform of the priesthood is a major issue before the American Catholic Church and the Catholic Church as a whole internationally. We can't be afraid of that.

ZAHN: And I know you said that it wasn't easy to blurt out what you blurted out publicly for the first time yesterday, saying Cardinal Law should go. Just before we let you go, help us better understand as a lifelong practicing catholic what this means to you to get to this point.

O'NEILL: It's somewhat reminiscent, I guess, of the reformation, which took our church at least a couple of hundred years to come to a point where they understood that there was dysfunction and something had to give. I think that very same thing is beginning to take form in the Catholic Church here in the United States today.

ZAHN: All right. Tip O'Neill III, thank you again for joining us this morning. We very much appreciate your time and your perspective.

O'NEILL: Thank you very much.

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