BOSTON (AP) - The drumbeat of calls for Cardinal Bernard Law to resign has mounted, with two gubernatorial candidates and two major New England newspapers asking for a shake-up at the top of the Boston Archdiocese.
In an editorial published Wednesday, the Boston Globe said "Law cannot ignore that too large a portion of the community has lost its faith in his leadership," and that the archbishop was "an obstacle to reform."
The Globe said Law "has never launched the necessary public examination of the church's culture, tradition and leadership that for so many years caused it to misgauge its priorities by placing the reputation of the church above the welfare of the children."
The resignation calls came after allegations emerged that Law apparently did little to stop a priest accused of predatory sexual practices.
Law has also been criticized for moving now-defrocked priest John Geoghan from parish to parish despite years of evidence Geoghan was a threat to children. Geoghan has been accused of molesting more than 130 children over 30 years.
Messages left with a spokeswoman for the archdiocese were not immediately returned. Law, 70, has vowed not to resign; he has apologized to abuse victims and announced a policy of "zero tolerance" for sexual abuse.
Democratic gubernatorial candidates Robert B. Reich and Warren Tolman backed calls for Law's resignation. They are the only gubernatorial candidates to call for Law to step down.
"As a churchgoing Catholic and father of three I have reluctantly concluded that Cardinal Law should not lead the Archdiocese any longer," Tolman said.
"This isn't about religion — it's about a leader and administrator who fundamentally failed in his duties," said Reich, a former U.S. labor secretary.
Earlier Tuesday, GOP candidate Mitt Romney and Democratic candidates Shannon O'Brien and Steve Grossman said they would not ask for Law's resignation. Senate President Thomas F. Birmingham, also a Democratic candidate, did not immediately return phone calls Tuesday.
New Hampshire's largest newspaper also called on Law to resign. In a Wednesday editorial, The Union Leader of Manchester, N.H., said Law "failed to remove priests accused of sexually abusing children ... and took extraordinary steps to keep the accusations from becoming public."
The Boston Herald called for Law's resignation March 13.
In other developments Tuesday related to the church abuse scandal:
_ In Michigan, the Archdiocese of Detroit said it has investigated as many as 18 priests for sexual misconduct since 1988 and removed about 12 of those from the active ministry — but did not report the cases to police. Local prosecutors said the admission intensified the need to review church files.
_ In Missouri, the Jefferson City Diocese said in a statement that the Rev. Kevin Clohessy was accused of sexual abuse in 1993 and suspended. Clohessy, 42, is the brother of David Clohessy, the national director of the advocacy group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.
_ In Delaware, the bishop of the Diocese of Wilmington presented the attorney general with the names of five priests recently accused of abuse. State officials have received complaints against six other priests, said deputy attorney general Ferris Wharton.
_ In Ohio, Cleveland Bishop Anthony M. Pilla and more than 100 priests celebrated the funeral Mass of the Rev. Don Rooney, a priest who killed himself three days after a sex abuse allegation against him surfaced.
_ In New York, a priest in the Brooklyn Diocese was fired from his part-time job with the district attorney's office after authorities learned he had been placed on administrative leave by the diocese following allegations that he was involved in "inappropriate sexual contact" with three minors 20 years ago.