VATICAN CITY (WHDH) — A source confirmed to 7News that former Boston Archbishop Cardinal Bernard Law has died in Rome at the age of 86.
Law was leader of the Catholic Church in Boston from 1984 to 2002 and was at the center of the child sex abuse coverup scandal.
According to court documents, Law knew about sex abuse for years and protected abusive priests, moving them from one parish to another while making sure the public did not know about the abuse.
The archdiocese says more than 200 religious clerics assaulted hundreds of children in Boston. Many priests were defrocked and some were sent to jail.
Phil Saviano, founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said Law’s siding with abusive priests was a source of frustration for survivors.
“He was in such a position of power and had the ability to do so much good, not only in Boston and in the country, but in the world,” said Saviano. “He gave up his career, basically, to protect a couple hundred child-molesting priests. It’s one of the great mysteries of our time, I think.”
Million-dollar settlements to victims and their families nearly bankrupted the archdiocese, who chose to sell off prized real estate to make the payments. During Law’s time as archbishop, more than 60 parishes were closed.
Law spent his final years in Rome, overseeing a basilica before retiring in 2011. He died after a long illness.
(Copyright (c) 2024 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)