Cardinal Law Appointed to Vatican Post

Cardinal Bernard Law was appointed by the pope on Thursday to a ceremonial but highly visible post in Rome, outraging many in the archdiocese Law left in disgrace at the height of the clergy sex abuse scandal.

Law, 72, will have the title of archpriest of St. Mary Major Basilica, a post often given to retired prelates.

Pope John Paul II’s announcement came two days after the Boston Archdiocese said it would lose at least 65 parishes as it grapples with declining collections, a shortage of priests and fallout from the scandal.

The Rev. Bob Bowers of St. Catherine’s Church in Charlestown said he was astounded the Vatican would “reward” Law so soon after announcing church closings caused in part by what he considers mismanagement of the archdiocese.

“It’s an utter disgrace and the people of the archdiocese are being burdened by this,” he said.

Jack Shaughnessy, a Boston businessman and longtime friend of Law’s, said he was delighted by the appointment, adding that Law had borne too much blame for the scandal, in which Law and other church officials were discovered to have shifted child-molesting priests from parish to parish for decades.

St. Mary Major is one of four basilicas under direct Vatican jurisdiction. It has an international staff of priests for the many tourists who visit the city.

Law visited the basilica Thursday, walking in a side door without commenting to reporters.

Law was named in hundreds of lawsuits accusing him of failing to protect children from known child molesters. After 18 years leading the nation’s fourth-largest archdiocese, Law resigned in 2002.

Ten months later, Law’s successor, Archbishop Sean P. O’Malley, helped broker an $85-million settlement with more than 550 victims of pedophile priests.