Cardinal Quits After Sex Scandals

The Pope has accepted the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law as archbishop of Boston, the Vatican announced today.

Mr Law's resignation comes after a sexual abuse scandal in his Boston archdiocese. The Vatican said Pope John Paul II had accepted the archbishop's resignation following talks between the two today.

The Pope has appointed Bishop Richard Lennon as Mr Law's temporary replacement.

"I am profoundly grateful to the Holy Father for having accepted my resignation as archbishop of Boston," Mr Law said in a written statement released by the Vatican.

"It is my fervent prayer that this action may help the archdiocese of Boston to experience the healing, reconciliation and unity which are so desperately needed.

"To all those who have suffered from my shortcomings and mistakes, I both apologise and from them beg forgiveness."

Abuse victims, lay members and even some priests had intensified calls for Mr Law to resign after 18 years at the helm of the Boston archdiocese, as more cases of improper conduct by priests unfolded from the release of church files.

Mr Law, who has been at the Vatican all week, slipped quietly away from Boston to begin a round of meetings with top officials at the Vatican over his and his archdiocese's fate.

He has been accused of having shuffled from parish to parish priests who were accused, often repeatedly, of sexually abusing minors.

Recent days have been marked by some of the most shocking revelations in the year-old scandal in Boston, with the release of thousands of pages of the archdiocese's personnel files.

Yesterday, it appeared that Mr Law might also have to face questions from a grand jury about his supervision of priests accused of sexually abusing minors.

Victims have accused him of being more mindful of his personal reputation that honestly dealing with the scandal, and dozens of priests under his command have demanded that he step down.

The Vatican may also decide whether the archdiocese, facing enormous payments in settlements with sex abuse victims, should declare bankruptcy to protect itself from creditors.

Whenever a bishop offers to step down, for age, illness or other problems, it is up to the Pope to accept the offer or to ask the clergyman to stay on, as he did in April 2002 when Mr Law travelled to Rome to seek his guidance.

After Mr Law, now 71, returned from that meeting, he said he was "encouraged" in his efforts to provide "the strongest possible leadership" in ensuring no child is ever abused again by a priest in his archdiocese.

But since April the scandal has worsened, with some of the most shocking revelations coming in recent days.

In recent years, sex abuse scandals have engulfed dioceses across the US and in Ireland, France, Britain and the Pope's native Poland.

But Boston has been at the epicentre of the scandals rocking the church, because of the archdiocese's centuries-old prestige and Mr Law's insistence that he stay at the helm.

Last month Mr Law, in an apology delivered during mass at Boston Cathedral, acknowledged his responsibility for decisions that "led to intense suffering".