Abuse in the Catholic Church

Boston, Massachusetts -

It was an awkward moment for Cardinal Bernard F. Law in 1993: how to explain why he transferred Rev. Eugene M. O'Sullivan to New Jersey in 1985 for seven years of parish work after O'Sullivan pleaded guilty to raping an Arlington altar boy.

In a handwritten memo, released yesterday as part of hundreds of pages of internal church records to be made public, Law suggested a news conference at which he would make 18 points defending the decision. Among them: That in 1985, "This was my first knowledge of this. No previous reports had been rec'd [received]" of sex abuse by the priest.

In the margin, an aide, whose handwriting appears to be that of Bishop Alfred C. Hughes, penciled in a cautionary note: "Certain? There were previous reports."

Even the woman whose son's abuse prompted the rape charge knew that -- and she so informed Law in an emotional 1985 letter, saying her son would have been spared had the church not simply transferred O'Sullivan when he was caught molesting boys in Waltham 20 years earlier.

Read the article at Boston Globe dated 06/05/02

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