I meant to offer my thoughts on Cardinal Law’s press conference yesterday. The only new piece of information was on his future plans, but a couple of other things struck me. First, I was saddened at the thought of what has been lost. Despite everything he’s done, Cardinal Law has been nothing but good to my family. When my sister-in-law was dying of cancer in the hospital, he showed up unannounced and unexpected the night before a big trip overseas just to pray with her because he heard of her condition in a brief conversation. The cardinal is not an evil man. He is a good man with flaws. Unfortunately, they were flaws that allowed a lot of pain and suffering, first, to the victims of sex abuse, and second, to the Church as a whole. And it was those flaws and their history that esured that Cardinal Law would not be able to stay and be part of the reconciliation and solution.
Another thing I noticed was that of every one I see speaking about the situation, the cardinal is one of the only people who consistently invokes prayer and God. He called for unity, reconciliation, and healing, not once, but twice. So many other people invoke politics or pain or power, and prayer and the interior life are too often ignored. Perhaps to all our detriment.
As for the Cardinal’s future plans, I noticed he said he is going on retreat to a monastery. That should make some people happy because that’s what they been demanding. After that he will take up residence outside the archdiocese. If he stays in Massachusetts, I’m pretty confident it won’t be on property owned by the Church, but my guess is that he’ll be outside the state. Close enough to fly in for depositions, and far enough to be out of the public eye.
