The Guardian reports (via New Humanist):
"The Pope is merely doing what any father would do for a child," said a senior Vatican prelate, asking not to be identified. And the Italian news agency AGI commented that it "seems like an act of personal appreciation by the pontiff - almost a compensation for the high price Law has paid". ... "It is a slap in the face of the victims and the public," Mitchell Garbadedian, a lawyer who represented about 300 victims, said yesterday. Dozen of clients had called him within a few hours, angry and upset at the decision. "He has not only gotten out of Dodge, but he has gotten out of the country."
Many people are shocked at this, but I’m not - I’m not the least bit surprised. Why? Because even if all of the accusations against Law are basically true, he still hasn’t done anything wrong from a theological perspective. He might be a poor administrator in situations like this, but he didn’t do anything like promote heresy or allow error to proliferate. When it comes to upholding Vatican doctrine, his record is basically spotless (or at least no worse than that of other cardinals).
Many American Catholics may find this difficult to grasp, but from the perspective of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in the Vatican, moving around priests accused of pedophilia isn’t a worse crime than would be promoting gay marriage, legal abortion, or female priests. Cardinal Bernard Law has been loyal to Pope John Paul II on doctrinal matters and because of that he remains a cardinal in good standing. He will be there to help elect the next pope. He is being rewarded with this appointment - for people in the Vatican, the fuss over a few pedophile priests really isn’t such a big deal.
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