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CNN Live Sunday

A Look at Cardinal Bernard Law's Past

Aired April 14, 2002 - 15:51   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law was not in church today, the first Sunday since he announced he would not step down as head of the archdiocese. Law made that announcement on Friday, despite criticism over his handling of priest sexual abuse cases. CNN's Brian Cabell takes a closer look at the man at the center of this controversy.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Just a few years ago Cardinal Law, who is now 70, was considered perhaps the most influential Catholic in America. Born in Mexico to a U.S. Army colonel, educated at Harvard, Law was seen by some to even be a possible future pope.

CARDINAL BERNARD LAW: I wish I could undo what I now see to have been mistakes. However, that is not a possibility.

CABELL: Cardinal Law's world changed radically in the last year, as dozens of allegations of child abuse by priests in his archdiocese have been made public. Worse for him has been the charge that he didn't do enough to stop it.

As a result, one of the brightest stars in the Catholic hierarchy has been dimmed.

(on camera): He was ordained in 1961. His first parish assignment was in Mississippi, at the time when the civil rights movement was first taking hold. There, he gained a reputation as a leader for racial equality. He was courageous, some said, he was charismatic.

In 1973, he became a bishop in Missouri, where was praised for setting up a center for Vietnamese refugees.

(voice-over): In 1984, he was named archbishop of Boston, one of the most prestigious posts in the American church. A year later, he became a cardinal, and a bit of a media celebrity. Radio shows welcomed him.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Any little trinkets from Rome, Your Eminence?

LAW: No. Listen, would you settle for a Cuban cigar? CABELL: He traveled extensively -- to Cuba, where he met with Fidel Castro, to Mexico, where he consoled victims of a deadly earthquake, to Poland to promote religious freedom for Christians and Jews. An frequently to the Vatican, where he's considered a loyal supporter of Pope John Paul II.

PROF. THOMAS GROOME, CATHOLIC CHURCH HISTORIAN: And of course, some people have misinterpreted that that when you travel that much and visit other cardinals in other cities that maybe he had even higher ambitions, or between Boston and heaven that there was one step in between.

CABELL: Though he did not care much for labels, Cardinal Law has always been considered a conservative, an outspoken opponent of birth control and abortion.

LAW: We have eliminated the respect of human life from the moment of conception to the moment of birth.

CROWD: Not the church, not the state, women must decide our faith!

CABELL: His strong stance may have provoked loud opposition, but he never wavered. He believed, like the pope, that he had to uphold the Catholic theology against changing cultural forces.

The one force he apparently didn't count on was outrage against the revelations of child sexual abuse by priests in his archdiocese. For months he has resisted taking full responsibility for it while stepping aside.

LAW: The relationship of the bishop to his diocese is signified by the ring he wears. And you don't walk away when the problem is difficult. That's when you need to be together.

CABELL: And he insists, despite the growing criticism and scandal, he will not walk away. He'll remain the leader of his flock.

Brian Cabell, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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