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	Abuse Scandal Gives Boston Mixed Feelings about Pope's Legacy By Pam Belluck The New York Times [Boston MA] April 2, 2005 OSTON, April 2 - Jack Connors, a prominent member of this city's large Catholic community, has a resonant memory of Pope John Paul II's visit to Boston in 1979. Throngs of people descended on Boston Common for a public Mass, many waiting for hours in a torrential rain. "I was drenched," Mr. Connors said. "My kids wanted to know why are we here. We should have known it was a sign that we were in for some stormy weather." It is the kind of anecdote that crystallizes the complex feelings many here have toward Pope John Paul II, who died on Saturday at the age of 84. It is a sense of awe and affection mixed with disappointment at his handling of the clergy sexual abuse scandal that exploded in Boston three years ago and continues to reverberate here. "Am I angry with him? No," Mr. Connors said. "He was a good man and did what he thought was right. But regrettably, there wasn't as much thoughtfulness and oversight as one might hope for." Similar reactions were common this weekend as many of the 2 million Catholics in and around Boston struggled with how to reconcile the respect and warmth they felt for John Paul with what they saw as too little attention paid too late to the problem of sexually abusive priests. In particular, there was criticism that when Cardinal Bernard F. Law was forced out of his position as Boston archbishop because of the scandal, he was not chastised or demoted, but was instead named archpriest of one of the four basilicas under Vatican direction in Rome, St. Mary Major's Basilica. "I think that it's fair to say that John Paul had kind of a love affair with Boston from the time he was archbishop of Krakow and he made a trip here," said Dr. James E. Post, a Boston University professor who is president of Voice of the Faithful, a lay Catholic group that sprang up in response to the sex abuse crisis. Adding to Boston's sense of connection with the pope was the appointment of Boston's former mayor, Raymond Flynn, as American ambassador to the Vatican in the mid-1990's. "There was always a perception of a warm relationship between the people of Boston and the Holy Father." But, Dr. Post said, "his behavior in response to the sex abuse crisis disappointed many Catholics. He seemed very reluctant to remove Cardinal Law or accept Cardinal Law's resignation. His personal relationship with the cardinal seemed to stand in the way of his being willing to address the problems of the archdiocese." Dr. Post said Boston Catholics appreciated some of what the pope eventually did, meeting with American cardinals about the crisis, for example. "But when he brought Cardinal Law back to Rome and gave him the appointment at Mary Major, that was more than puzzling - it was deeply disturbing to Catholics in Boston," Dr. Post said. "It seemed that he was being rewarded for bad behavior, and run-of-the-mill, ordinary Catholics just saw this as de facto an insult to the people of Boston." The Reverend Walter Cuenin, pastor of Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, one of dozens of priests who signed a petition seeking Cardinal Law's resignation in 2002, said he, too, felt the pope's legacy in Boston is mixed. In some ways John Paul had a major positive impact, Father Cuenin said, like his "outreach to the Jewish people," which encouraged substantial interfaith cooperation in Newton, a Boston suburb with many Jewish residents. And Father Cuenin credited the pope for replacing Cardinal Law with Archbishop Sean O'Malley, who quickly moved to pay financial settlements to clergy sex abuse victims who had sued the church. But, Father Cuenin said, "for some Catholics, the sex abuse crisis, the way it was handled, the cover-up by the bishops and then the appointment to Rome of Cardinal Law was not well received and remains a sore spot." "There was a lot of feeling that the Vatican was somewhat distant from the crisis and didn't seem to appreciate what was going on here," he said. "I think people would have felt better had Cardinal Law resigned from his ecclesial duties as all the priests involved in the sex abuse crisis had to do." Not every Catholic here shared such feelings. "I think especially now people of goodwill have a sense of admiration and loss," said Peter Meade, executive vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. "The man has accomplished so much and I would hope people would let him be at peace." But Bernie McDaid, who was abused by the Reverend Joseph E. Birmingham, was wrestling with conflicting feelings. "I do not dislike the pope personally - he's probably a good man but as far as this issue is concerned, there's been so much misunderstanding and fear," said Mr. McDaid, who along with a group of victims sought a meeting with the pope two years ago, instead meeting with a Vatican official in Rome. "They raped and robbed my soul, and there's almost a shame and a fear to acknowledge this and deal directly with this issue," he said. "I certainly felt stonewalled all the way up from the Boston diocese to Rome. I don't want to come off as callous and full of malice. But I had personally hoped that this pope would have been the one to come out publicly on this issue." Dr. Post said he had hoped the next pope would "recognize that the sex abuse crisis worldwide is not over," and that there needed to be a "restoration of the church's moral integrity."
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