Internet Responds to News Disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law, Who Enabled Pedophile Priests, Has Died
‘This Was a Terrible Human Being’ Says Mark Ruffalo
Former Boston Cardinal Bernard Law, disgraced for enabling and covering up child sex abuse of pedophile priests, died Monday night in Rome. The 2015 film “Spotlight,” which won two Oscars, is based on The Boston Globe’s investigation into the Catholic Church’s sex abuse scandal, including Cardinal Law’s role.
“Cardinal Bernard F. Law, whose 19-year tenure as head of the Archdiocese of Boston ended in his resignation after it was revealed he had failed to remove sexually abusive priests from the ministry, setting off a scandal that reached around the world, died Tuesday. He was 86,” The Boston Globe reports.
Cardinal Law was the highest-ranking official in the history of the US church to leave office in public disgrace. Although he had not broken any laws in the Commonwealth — clergy were not required to report child sex abuse until 2002 — his actions led to a sense of betrayal among many Boston Catholics that the church is still dealing with today.
The abuse scandal was “the greatest tragedy to befall children — ever†in the Commonwealth, the attorney general’s office said in 2003, and “as archbishop, and therefore chief executive of the archdiocese, Cardinal Bernard Law bears ultimate responsibility for the tragic treatment of children that occurred during his tenure. But by no means does he bear sole responsibility.â€
The attorney general’s office said the abuse extended over six decades and involved at least 237 priests and 789 children; of those, 48 priests and other archdiocesan employees were alleged to have abused children while Law was leader of the Boston archdiocese.
Here’s how Twitter responded to the news:
Mark Ruffalo, who starred in “Spotlight”:
This was a terrible human being… Cardinal Bernard Law, Boston Archbishop Who Was Forced To Resign Over Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal, Dead At 86 | HuffPost https://t.co/m6SPMq3tds
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) December 20, 2017
One can only hope the countless sexual abuse of children he allowed and the subsequent profound suffering he hid will come to an end with his demise. #SPOTLIGHT https://t.co/WUXULAqncG
— Mark Ruffalo (@MarkRuffalo) December 20, 2017
Boston TV anchor:
BREAKING: Sources tell @WCVB The man who was at the helm of the clergy sex abuse scandal in Boston is dead. Cardinal Bernard Law died in Rome. I just talked to Mitchell Garabedian. He says his death just exposes the wounds the victims will always feel. Tonite I think of them
— Maria Stephanos (@mariastephanos) December 20, 2017
Harvard Constitutuional law professor:
You mean Cardinal Lawless?
https://t.co/UqC1gIpjWQ— Laurence Tribe (@tribelaw) December 20, 2017
Others:
“I hope the gates of hell are swinging wide to allow him entrance.”
Survivor of Catholic priest sex abuse reacts to Cardinal Bernard Law’s passing. pic.twitter.com/1DimdR9eDX
— NBC News (@NBCNews) December 20, 2017
Cardinal Bernard law is going straight to HELL, he stood silent while children were sexually abused and assaulted by priests. Republicans are doing the same thing with trump and fellow republicans who are accused of sexual assault and harassment. #WednesdayWisdom #GOPTaxBillScam
— LIBRA (@Santuitis) December 20, 2017
I don’t want to see a single reference to Cardinal Bernard Law’s death that doesn’t reference his central role in exposing children to pedophile priests. His actions were as damaging as those priests, and he should have died in jail.
— Robert Merriman (@RobertHMerriman) December 20, 2017
The death of Cardinal Bernard Law is extremely sad only in the sense that he was never punished and never will be, so let’s all do our part to remember him for exactly what he was…a steaming pile of garbage that protected paedophiles & lied with every breath of his adult life.
— JPM (@JPM_80) December 20, 2017
Cardinal Bernard Law. “I’ve never wished a man dead, but I have read some obituaries with great pleasure.” – Author Unknown
— Ebony & Noor (@DarlingEbony) December 20, 2017
If it weren’t for the efforts of @BostonGlobe @GlobeSpotlight investigative reporters, we wouldn’t have known the extent of Bernard Law’s role in the cover-up of decades of child sexual abuse by priests in Boston. Remember that:https://t.co/SLbA6BEYIM
— Curtis Tate (@tatecurtis) December 20, 2017
Cardinal Bernard Law Hebrews 9:27 “And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment.”
— La Vache Qui Rit (@LaRIVacheQuiRit) December 20, 2017
Cardinal Bernard Law died. The man who covered up Catholic Priest who were sexually abusing children in order to protect the public perception of the Catholic Church. He was a failure. He was a heartless man with no soul. pic.twitter.com/UcRR1dTzK0
— αΩâ„ï¸HμmαηιsτΕngιnεεr (@AtheistEngineer) December 20, 2017
Today’s Boston papers on the news that disgraced cardinal Bernard Law is dead. And more coverage from @WBUR: https://t.co/FWx7ajPwKG pic.twitter.com/ZUc5aobxkz
— ally jarmanning (@allyjarmanning) December 20, 2017
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