Boston cardinal praised priest who molested novice nuns

The crisis in the Catholic church in Boston deepened dramatically yesterday when secret files surfaced providing details of the way its leaders hushed up one lurid case after another implicating priests in sexual abuse.

The pressure on Cardinal Bernard Law to resign seems bound to increase because the church documents, made public in a court case brought by abuse victims, make it clear that he was well aware of the crimes committed by his priests but frequently responded by simply transferring them to another parish.

In one extraordinary case the Rev Robert Meffan persuaded teenage novice nuns, some as young as 15, to perform sexual acts as a means of becoming "intimate with Christ", telling them he was the "second coming".

Despite the allegations by some of the victims and a warning from a bishop in 1985 that Father Meffan "could really harm us" Cardinal Law sent him to another parish.

When he retired in 1996, the cardinal had warm words for him. He wrote to him, with no apparent irony: "Without doubt over these years of generous care, the lives and hearts of many people have been touched by your sharing of the Lord's Spirit. We are truly grateful."

Three women testified that Fr Meffan had come to their dormitory or summoned them to his rectory office when they were teenagers, told them to undress and persuaded them to stroke and kiss his genitals and perform other sexual acts short of intercourse, telling them to imagine making love with Christ.

Fr Meffan, now 73, has not apologised. "I was trying to get them to love Christ even more intimately and even more closely," he told the Boston Globe. "To me they were just wonderful, wonderful young people. It was a very beautiful, I thought, beautiful, spiritual relationship that was physical and sexual."

Nowhere in the correspondence on the Meffan case is there any hint of legal action, nor any mention of concern for the victims. It is one of the many insights which came to light in 2,200 pages published yesterday from formerly secret files the church was forced to hand over to lawyers acting for abuse victims.

Another 9,000 surrendered pages have yet to be made public, suggesting that the archdiocese will have to withstand more devastating publicity in the coming weeks.

Faced with sexual abuse cases which could cost it more than $100m, the hierarchy in Boston leaked hints earlier this week that it might declare itself bankrupt.