Law, Bernard Francis (1931-2017), was a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was appointed by Pope John Paul II in 1985. The pope had named Law archbishop of Boston in 1984. Law had previously served as bishop of the diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, Missouri. Law resigned as archbishop of Boston in 2002 as a result of a scandal in the archdiocese involving priests sexually abusing minors. In 2004, Pope John Paul II appointed Law to several positions within the Roman Curia, the administrative arm of the papacy.
Law was born on Nov. 4, 1931, in Torreon, Mexico, to American parents. He was ordained a priest in 1961. He served as a parish priest in Vicksburg, Mississippi, from 1961 until 1963, when he became editor of the diocesan newspaper of Jackson, Mississippi. In 1968, Law became executive director of the Committee on Ecumenical and Interreligious Affairs, a group sponsored by the National (now United States) Conference of Catholic Bishops. He was appointed vicar-general of the Natchez-Jackson, Mississippi, diocese (now the Jackson diocese) in 1971, and bishop of the Springfield-Cape Girardeau diocese in 1973. Law died on Dec. 20, 2017.
