After a year of accusations and unbearable pressure, cardinal Bernard Law finally found himself obligated to resign. He had become the center of the scandal over the sex abuse cases involving priests that had shaken the bases of the Catholic Church during the past nine months and provoked the removal of more than 400 clerics nationwide.

Law’s resignation came about at the time the Archdiocese faces several millionaire lawsuits on behalf of the victims and the Vatican is closed to declare the Massachusetts church bankrupt to protect its capital from the creditors. Lawsuit settlements could reach a billion dollars.

One day before his departure for Rome, the Cardinal had been notified that he had to testify before a court of law regarding the cases of pedophilia.

Revealing documents disclosed in the last two weeks and announcements issued by the attorney general have generated an intense investigation on the dioceses of Boston that suggests that the worst news has not yet been released.

The public accusations related to these sex crimes committed by hundreds of priests finally exposed an embarrassment that has been known for centuries at all levels but because it was related to the church it was always handled tactfully and kept in absolute secrecy.

Even though these cases can’t be kept secret anymore —as recent developments show— the church keeps trying to avoid responsibilities. It became obvious recently when members of the ecclesiastic hierarchy declared that the sexual aberrations committed by priests were due to the corruption that plagues modern society, not just the ecclesiastic system.

How different is the accountability on somebody else’s sins if compared with their very own!

How hard the church is when it comes to punish disagreeable political regimes or parishioners that break their rigid rules on abortion, divorce, and the practice of birth control!

How soft it is, instead, when it comes to punish its own mistakes!

The existing crisis of the church is not just financial and Cardinal Law is not the only one responsible. The scope of the scandal and its consequences for the Catholic Church is yet unpredictable. To get out of such a labyrinth will depend on the same religious institution and its authentic willpower to eradicate the endemic immorality that corrodes it internally. It includes permitting that the guilty priests who raped so many children are brought to justice and punished. Additionally, and as a mater of course, the Catholic Church should prompt the necessary, internal changes to prevent such abominable acts to happen again in the name of God. Moreover, the church has to allow the financial repairs as demanded by the victims without using bankruptcy as an excuse.

Law’s resignation should not end the responsibilities this prelate has before the law. On the plus side, the absence of the cardinal could unchain a process of internal purification of the church which can lead to the separation of other priests that have committed equal or similar crimes.

Only a real contrition will make a recovery possible for the church and its ecclesiastic hierarchy. It will also help the revival of the faith of the catholic parishioners and its own leadership capabilities as guides of a religious doctrine.