The Boston Globe has posted the transcripts of the latest deposition of Cardinal Law in the Paul Shanley case. There’s a lot in there and it makes frustrating reading. I know it must be a legal strategy, but Cardinal Law never gives a straight answer as to whether he read anything that went out over his signature. It’s always, “I can’t recall, but I must have.”
But this quote really takes the cake for not giving a straight answer.
Macleish: Okay. Now, as Archbishop of the Boston Archdiocese in May of 1993, if you had learned that one of the priests in the diocese thought he was going to be Christ of the Second Coming, would that concern you?
Law: Well, if I—you know, I believe that what was done here was exactly what should have been done here; that this priest should have been sent to St. Luke’s for an assessment.
Sent for assessment? Can you picture St. Peter saying that he was sending one of his priests for assessment? If a priest says he’s the Second Coming of Christ, he’s obviously a danger to himself and to the faith of his flock. He should be removed from his parish, stripped of his ministry, and only then sent to a psychiatric facility. If he maintains the position, he should be laicized and even excommunicated.
And that’s what should have been done with the pervert priests. Immediately removed from their parishes, stripped of their ministries, and only then send for psychiatric help. The onus should have been on them to prove that they were fit for ministry again, not on the archdiocese which assumed they were in the absence of positive proof.
