Before the child sex abuse scandal, Law was highly respected for his work in civil rights and ecumenism. He was seen as one of the "good guys." He handled the sex scandal poorly, and that was his downfall. The Catholic Church badly needed bishops with courage and compassion to handle that matter as soon as it came to light, but almost all the U.S. bishops were milquetoast bureaucrats, not leaders.

There was much criticism of his assignment to Rome after his resignation from the lofty position of Archbishop-Cardinal of Boston, but the job he got in Rome was just about the lowest position a cardinal could be assigned to, responsible mainly for making maintenance decisions for an aging basilica church.

I don't think Law was a bad man, but I grieve for all who suffered because of his lack of courage and leadership.

-Joe-