The Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard Law, abruptly cancelled his regular Sunday homily at the cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston yesterday as he came under new pressure to resign over his role in the scandal over abusive priests, this time from priests within the archdiocese.
A letter calling for the cardinal to step down has been circulated among the archdiocese's 900 priests. The 250-member Boston Priests Forum will also discuss a demand for his resignation at a meeting next week.
The letter, leaked to the Boston Globe, states that "the events of recent months and, in particular, of these last few days, make it clear to us that your position as our bishop is so compromised that it is no longer possible for you to exercise the spiritual leadership required for the church of Boston".
Father Robert Bullock, a leader of the Boston Priests Forum, said: "We are all horrified by what we've been learning. The calls for the cardinal to resign among priests are becoming much more extensive and louder."
Last week, a Boston court released hundreds of internal files on priests revealing new and shocking cases of sexual abuse over decades and cover-ups by the archdiocese. They raised questions about the cardinal's assertions that he relied on aides and was not fully aware of the gravity of the problem. Further angering victim support groups, Cardinal Law also obtained approval from his financial advisers last week to apply for chapter 11 bankruptcy to cope with mounting claims for damages.
On Friday, the cardinal tried to bar priests from a meeting scheduled to take place at a church in Newton, under Father Walter Cuenin, clearly seeing it as a focus for discontent. Father Cuenin said three dozen priests decided to write to the cardinal saying they favoured delaying his major fund-raising campaign "until healing takes place". It is almost unheard of for a cardinal to face open revolt by priests, who upon ordination vow obedience to church leaders and Vatican dictates.
A counter-attack against groups calling for Cardinal Law's resignation has been mounted on the website of the Holy Cross cathedral, where Father Robert Carr argues that the cardinal cannot resign because immediately, lay Catholics groups such as Voice of the Faithful "would make a power play to take over our Church".
Voice of the Faithful - whose motto is "Keep the faith, change the Church" - was formed after the crisis over paedophile priests broke last year. It said the latest documents revealed that "a culture of deep clerical secrecy has protected moral depravity and that the scandal is much deeper than was previously known" in Boston.
The archdiocese did not say why Cardinal Law did not attend Mass yesterday at the cathedral, where six protest groups announced plans to step up regular demonstrations calling for him to go.