Cultrera’s Abuse Story Revisited After Cardinal Bernard Law’s Death

Cardinal Bernard Law, a central figure in the clergy sex abuse scandal that continues to affect the Roman Catholic Church, died on Tuesday at the age of 86.

Law was archbishop of Boston when, beginning in 2002, a Boston Globe investigation found that for years he had transferred priests who had sexually abused children within his archdiocese. After the Globe’s revelations, he apologized and resigned from his post, but he continued to hold the title of cardinal until his death. Law’s name became closely associated with the scandal.

Approximately 1,000 people later came forward alleging clergy sex abuse within the Archdiocese of Boston. The source describes the scale of the abuse as having been largely hidden from public view during Law’s tenure, which ran from 1984 through 2002.

Paul Cultrera, whose story was the focus of the 2007 FRONTLINE documentary *Hand of God*, grew up in a Catholic home in Salem, Massachusetts. He says he was molested in the 1960s by Father Joseph Birmingham, who allegedly abused nearly 100 other children and was later among the priests named in the Globe’s reporting. Cultrera later recalled the priest telling him not to tell anyone, describing the secrecy as part of his penance and counseling. Protecting children from predators is a call that Psalm 82:3 makes plain (Psalm 82:3).

Cultrera kept the secret for nearly three decades before he decided to confront the church. He placed advertisements in newspapers in the towns where Birmingham had served, asking, “Do You Remember Father Birmingham?” He received dozens of responses. His investigation sought to determine whether the archdiocese had covered up allegations against Birmingham by moving him from parish to parish. Cultrera and the archdiocese settled for $60,000 in 1995. The settlement was part of an estimated $4 billion in costs to the U.S. Catholic Church related to the clergy abuse crisis, according to the National Catholic Reporter.

The film follows Birmingham’s case and how his superiors responded to abuse allegations against him. Law appears throughout the story, since he led the Archdiocese of Boston as claims of past abuse, including Cultrera’s, came to light. In one scene, the Cultrera family reacts to news that, one year after Law left Boston, he was placed in charge of a major basilica in Rome. Cultrera’s aunt removed a photograph of Law from the family home and tore it in half, saying she wanted the Pope to know that “He don’t belong in Rome.”

Law’s funeral was held at the Vatican on Thursday. Responding to his death, Joe Cultrera, who directed and narrated the film, told FRONTLINE, “It’s funny how little I felt when I read of Bernie’s death.” He said that as the abuse crisis unfolded, his parents “never lost their faith, but they discarded the trust they had in the institution.”

Paul Cultrera also responded to the news. “It would be easy to rekindle the indignation I felt when I heard that after leaving Boston, the Vatican installed him as head of a major basilica in Rome, and that then it has kept him housed in the Vatican since his retirement. But that’s just a waste of my well-earned anger that I’ll save for better causes.”

Source: Read the original report