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American Morning
More Calls for Law's Resignation
Aired April 22, 2002 - 08:02 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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: "Up Front" this morning, that historic meeting at the Vatican between American cardinals and the pope. The besieged Boston cardinal, Bernard Law, is among a group of top Catholic clerics summoned to Rome for tomorrow's summit to address the growing sex abuse scandal in the church.
Just yesterday before departing, the cardinal offered words of regret for the way he has handled priests accused of sex abuse. CNN's Michael Okwu has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The Cathedral of the Holy Cross, a jubilee mass celebrating special wedding anniversaries. But outside...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Law now! Throw the bum in jail!
OKWU: Protesters calling for the cardinal's ouster from the archdiocese he's been married to for almost two decades.
There would be no resignation today, but in his first public appearance in the Boston area in two weeks, Cardinal Law offered words of contrition.
BERNARD LAW, CARDINAL, BOSTON ARCHDIOCESE: Regrettably, I and many others have been late to recognize the inadequacy of past policies, the dimensions of the crisis.
OKWU: The Cardinal has been under fire for his handling of John Geoghan and Paul Shanley, two pedophile priests accused of molesting hundreds of children. The archdiocese transferred them from parish to parish around the country, despite knowing of the allegations.
Sunday, Law said he would take several messages to the Vatican meeting this week, including the need for the church to be more open, and open to having experts investigate patterns of sexual abuse in the clergy.
From Baltimore to Detroit...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ...mistakes that he's made. OKWU: ...and Philadelphia, U.S. cardinals reached out to their parishioners on the eve of their historic meeting at the Vatican. 12 of the 13 U.S. cardinals are expected to meet with the pope, working, perhaps, towards a uniform approach in resolving cases.
THEODORE MCCARRICK, CARDINAL, ARCHDIOCESE OF WASHINGTON: I hope that we will ultimately have some national policy that will enable us to guarantee our people that this thing is not -- that this thing is under control and will never happen again.
OKWU: It was a weekend for spin, if not contrition. In a written statement read in churches throughout his archdiocese, New York Cardinal Edward Egan apologized for any mistakes that may have been made in sexual abuse cases when he was a bishop in Connecticut.
EDWARD EGAN, CARDINAL, ARCHDIOCESE OF NEW YORK: I also am very anxious to ask each and every one of you to keep in your prayers (UNINTELLIGIBLE) facing a very tragic situation.
OKWU: Back in Boston, now the center of the firestorm...
LAW: Please know that as long as I am in a position to do so, I will work tirelessly to address this crisis and to underscore its severity. This is a wake-up call for the church.
OKWU: Even some who have not entirely supported Law were ready to start the healing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's a very trying time, a very troubling time, but it's a time for the church to unite, to bring us together, to support each other.
OKWU: Law's critics were more vocal than ever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a coward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Coward.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He's a coward of the first order. He's a coward of the first order. He can't protect our children, he can only protect himself.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shame on you, (UNINTELLIGIBLE). You, Cardinal Law, of the Archdiocese of Boston!
OKWU: By morning's end, the bull horns of the protesters tried to drown out the singing of the cardinal's supporters, perched on the cathedral's threshold as Law himself secretly slipped from view, a standoff for now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
OKWU: A very emotional day yesterday in the U.S. Catholic Church, and perhaps it is a prelude for an even more emotional week. The "LA Times" is reporting, we should mention, that at least two American clerics say that U.S. cardinals and bishops are all but unanimous about the fact that Cardinal Law should leave his post as the head of the archdiocese here in Boston, and they may be approaching the Vatican to ask for his resignation -- Paula.
ZAHN: All right. Michael Okwu, I know you'll be following this very closely for us. Thanks for that update.
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