Bernard Cardinal Law

Styles of Bernard Francis Law
Reference style	His Eminence
Spoken style	Your Eminence
Informal style	Cardinal
See	Boston (Emeritus)

Bernard Francis Law (born November 4, 1931) is an American cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He is Archbishop emeritus of Boston, former archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, and Cardinal Priest of Santa Susanna, the American Catholic church in Rome.

Law was the Archbishop of Boston from 1984 until his resignation on December 13, 2002, in response to the Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal after church documents showed he had extensive knowledge of sexual abuse committed by dozens of Catholic priests within his archdiocese. One priest alone was alleged to have raped or molested 130 children over decades, while Law and other local officials moved him among churches rather than going to the authorities.

Two years after resigning from his position in Boston, which the Church called "an important step in the healing process",Pope John Paul II appointed Law as Archpriest of the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome in 2004. He resigned from this position upon reaching the age of 80 in November 2011.

Law was born in the Mexican city of Torreón, Coahuila, on November 4, 1931. He attended schools in New York, Florida, Georgia, and Barranquilla, Colombia, before graduating from Charlotte Amalie High School in St. Thomas, Virgin Islands. While in high school he was employed by the Virgin Islands Daily News.