More files released on Boston Church abuse

More files on Boston archdiocese priests accused of sexual misconduct have been made public in the United States.

More files on Boston archdiocese priests accused of sexual misconduct have been made public in the United States.

They come as speculation mounted over Cardinal Bernard Law's surprise trip to the Vatican and his own clergy kept up their calls for him to resign.

Unlike last week's revelations about priests from the Archdiocese of Boston trading drugs for sex and invoking the name of Jesus Christ while molesting young girls, the new files showed the church suspended some priests from their jobs following accusations of sexual misconduct.

Lawyers for alleged victims of the Rev. Paul Shanley, an accused child rapist, began publicly releasing archdiocese personnel files last week after a Massachusetts judge ordered the church to turn them over.

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The lawyers have said the files prove a central claim in their legal action - that the archdiocese routinely reassigned priests accused of sexual misconduct.

However, in the case of the Rev. Paul Manning, the archdiocese ended his appointment as vicar even though a 12-person jury found him not guilty of indecently assaulting an altar boy.

Over the weekend, Dr Law quietly slipped out of Boston and travelled to Rome. Church sources said the Vatican may take the unusual step of naming a successor to Dr Law even if he does not resign in a bid to defuse the crisis that has engulfed the archdiocese since it erupted in January.

There was also talk that the cardinal may ask Vatican leaders for permission to file for bankruptcy protection as a way of dealing with the estimated 450 clergy sexual abuse legal actions it faces.

AP