Bernard Law in attendance at Pope Francis basilica visit
Disgraced Boston archbishop 'entered discreetly'
14 March, 17:43
(ANSA) - Vatican City, March 14 - The Vatican confirmed that
disgraced American Cardinal Bernard Law was in attendance at
Santa Maria Maggiore (St Mary Major) Basilica in Rome on
Thursday when Pope Francis came there to pray.
"Bernard Law entered very discreetly, he entered through
one of the side chapels," said spokesman Father Federico
Lombardi.
Law, the former archbishop of Boston, resigned in 2002 when
unsealed court records revealed he had moved pedophile priests
among church assignments without notifying parishioners.In 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed him archpriest of Saint Mary Major. He resigned from the position after turning 80 in late 2011. "As archpriest, he wanted to be there" when Francis came to pray, said Lombardi. Pope Francis started his first full day as the head of the Catholic Church by praying in the basilica before a famous icon of the Virgin Mary called the Salus Populi Romani (Protectress of the Roman People).
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