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POPE ACCEPTS BOSTON CARDINAL'S RESIGNATION

VATICAN CITY, December 13, 2002 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Pope John Paul II, who
earlier rejected the resignation of Bernard Cardinal Law of Boston, today accepted the resignation after Law traveled to Rome to repeat the request personally.

It has recently become the norm that bishops step down at age 75, but Cardinal Law, 71, is the longest-sitting cardinal in the American church, and the highest level prelate to resign in the current scandal involving sexual abuse, drugs, mismanagement and cover-up, mostly occurring in the 1970s and 1980s.

No new archbishop has yet been named for Boston, but the Vatican appointed auxiliary Bishop Richard Lennon, 55, as "apostolic administrator" in the interim.

For media coverage see:
http://www.globeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/front/RTGAM/20021213/wcard1213_2...

To read Cardinal Law's resignation statement see:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2572857.stm

See LifeSite's Church Scandals pages
http://www.lifesite.net/features/churchscandals/

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