BOSTON (Reuters) - Cardinal Bernard Law, under fire for his handling of a scandal over pedophile priests in the Catholic Church, issued a prayer on Thursday to "bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families" and asked his parishioners to use it daily.
"We beg that the Spirit will bring healing to the victims of clergy sexual abuse and their families. We pray that the spirit will warm the hearts of those whose faith has been weakened by this scandal. We ask that the Spirit will bestow mercy and repentance on the abusers," the four-verse, 23-line prayer reads, in part.
Law has been under enormous pressure since January, when court documents in a civil suit against the archdiocese of Boston showed he shuttled Father John Geoghan, who has since been defrocked and imprisoned for molesting a child, between parishes even though he knew of pedophilia accusations against the clergyman.
The revelations and later cases in which Law appears to have acted the same way, triggered a scandal that has rocked the Catholic Church to its foundation and sent ripples all the way to the Vatican.
Law issued the prayer the day after he gave court-ordered testimony in connection with a civil suit brought by 86 people who accuse Law and the Boston Archdiocese of negligence in handling Geoghan.
Law designated the period between Ascension Thursday, May 9, and Pentecost Sunday, May 19, as a "Novena for the Renewal of the Church." A novena is a period of nine days of private or public devotion by which Catholics hope to obtain special grace from God.
Catholics believe that after Ascension, when Jesus was elevated to God's side, Mary and the Apostles gathered for a nine day period -- a a novena -- of special prayer that ended with Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit appeared before Mary and the Apostles.
"Cardinal Law has asked for the novena in response to the grave scandal that has occurred because of the sexual abuse of children and teenagers by some members of the clergy," a statement from the archdiocese said.
The statement from the archdiocese said the prayer could be used at parish meetings, liturgical gatherings and for daily personal use by individual Catholics.