LAW: MET POPE, WON’T RESIGN

Cardinal Bernard Law said yesterday he discussed his resignation with Pope John Paul II during an unpublicized visit to Rome, where he discussed his central role in an explosive child sex scandal that has rocked the Roman Catholic Church.  He issued a statement saying he met with the pope and Vatican officials and discussed the impact sexual abuse cases were having on public opinion and the Boston Archdiocese.  The fact that my resignation has been proposed as necessary was part of my presentation, he said.  The pope and those others with whom I met are very conscious of the gravity of the situation.  It is clear to me that the primary emphasis of the Holy See, like that of the church in the archdiocese, is upon the protection of the children.  Law said that he did not intend to resign.  He said in his statement, As a result of my stay in Rome, I return home encouraged in my efforts to provide the strongest possible leadership in ensuring, as far as humanly possible, that no child is ever abused again by a priest of this archdiocese.

(Boston, Massachusetts)