Faced with a grand jury summons and confronted with open rebellion from priests and laity in Massachusetts, Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston is expected to offer his resignation to Pope John Paul II at the Vatican today, writes Conor O'Clery, in Boston
In order for it to take effect, the Pope must accept the resignation, something he has refused to do before. But this time the Pontiff will be under extraordinary pressure to let Cardinal Law step down.
The Boston archbishop's moral authority has collapsed in the light of new revelations about his handling of sex-abuse cases among priests, according to clergy and lay activists in Boston, and the cardinal now faces a humiliating legal ordeal.
Cardinal Law and seven bishops who worked with him have been served with subpoenas to appear before a grand jury to answer questions about their supervision of priests accused of sexually abusing children.
Two state troopers from the office of the Boston Attorney General, Mr Thomas Reilly, delivered a subpoena to the Cardinal's residence in Brighton on Friday, shortly before he left for Rome, according to reports in Boston yesterday.
The latest blow to the Cardinal's episcopal authority came on Wednesday evening when Voice of the Faithful, a fast-growing moderate lay group that had refrained before from taking such action, demanded that he step down immediately.
Council members of the group meeting in the basement of Our Lady Help of Christians Church voted 72-2 for a motion stating: "We call on Cardinal Bernard F. Law to immediately resign as archbishop of Boston." The group, which claims 25,000 members, also asked the Vatican to appoint a suitable replacement to the post which was "not functioning at this time".
The acting executive director of Voice of the Faithful, Mr Steve Krueger, claimed: "Our archbishop has lost his moral voice", following revelations that showed a pattern of cover-up.
The Voice of the Faithful movement was spreading around the US and abroad, Mr Krueger said. It had received inquiries from concerned lay people in Ireland where Cardinal Desmond Connell is under pressure about his handling of priests accused of abuse. "Ireland is one of the places we would very much want to develop a visible presence," he said.
On Sunday, in an unprecedented move, 58 Boston priests called on Cardinal Law to step down. Up to 20 more had added their support, Father Robert Bullock, head of the 250-member Priests Forum in Boston, told The Irish Times. He said the forum would meet to discuss the resignation issue formally today.
The bishops subpoenaed include several prominent members of the American Roman Catholic Hierarchy. Among them are Bishop Thomas Daily of Brooklyn, Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, New Hampshire, Archbishop Alfred Hughes of New Orleans, and Bishop William Murphy in New York.
In Rome a Vatican spokesman, Dr Joaquin Navarro-Valls, confirmed yesterday that Cardinal Law was expected to meet the Pope today.