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American Morning

Cardinal Law Returns from Rome

Aired April 17, 2002 - 07:44   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: While America's Catholic Church continues to grapple with sex abuse scandals and the role some church officials played in it, Boston's Cardinal Law, who has been harshly criticized for not doing enough to root out pedophiles from his archdiocese, has just returned from a secret meeting in Rome.

And CNN's Jason Carroll is standing by live in Boston with more details -- good morning, Jason.

JASON CARROLL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: And good morning to you, Paula. Cardinal Law hasn't been seen publicly since last Tuesday, when he attended a funeral, and now we know part of the reason why. He apparently was meeting with the pope to seek counsel and advice from the pope and other Vatican officials.

Late last night, the archdiocese released a statement quoting Law, saying in part: "The focus of my meetings was the impact of the Shanley and other sexual abuse cases upon public opinion in general, and specifically upon the members of the archdiocese. The fact that my resignation has been proposed as necessary was part of my presentation."

Cardinal Law, as you know, has been under intense pressure to resign, because he allowed an accused pedophile priest, Father Paul Shanley, to have access to children. Church documents show that he moved around from parish to parish for years. Law says that he returns home feeling encouraged to provide strong leadership. He has support from some in the community. He also has the support of Washington's cardinal, Theodore Mr. McCarrick.

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CARDINAL THEODORE MCCARRICK, WASHINGTON: And so I don't see his eminence resigning. I think he feels he has a responsibility to the church of Boston to make this the very best policy in the United States and to clear out all of the mistakes that they may have done in the past.

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CARROLL: And the pope has summoned all U.S. cardinals to the Vatican for a special meeting to take place next week, next Tuesday and Wednesday. Cardinal Law will be among those attending -- Paula. ZAHN: All right. Thanks, Jason Carroll. We should note that it's a pretty ambitious agenda next week in Rome. According to "The New York Times," some very specific guidelines will be set for priests on how to deal with the issue of sexual abuse of some of the parishioners by priests.

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