By James L. Franklin, Globe Staff, 3/8/1994

n an interview marking his 10th anniversary as archbishop of Boston, Cardinal Bernard F. Law yesterday vowed the Archdiocese of Boston will continue to support parishes and schools in the inner city -- even if they are losing money -- because they offer hope and sanctuary from the violence of the streets.

He also decried proposals to cut public support for poor families because of welfare abuses, calling the idea "immoral."

Asked what the church can do to combat violence, the cardinal said, "The biggest thing is the presence of our parishes, the men and women of faith who belong to them, their attitude of love and the willingness to speak the truth and take children seriously."

Despite its own economic crisis, the archdiocese has maintained parishes and schools in the inner city even when they can't pay for themselves, he said, because "they're doing a wonderful job."

If any changes are to be made, "the best people to decide are the people who are there," Cardinal Law said.

Dressed in a black suit, with Roman collar and a pectoral cross, Cardinal Law was at ease during the course of the interview at his Brighton residence. His hair is whiter, at age 62, but he's thinner and apparently more fit than at his installation as archbishop March 23, 1984.

Cardinal Law said he was concerned about the campaign to eliminate or greatly reduce state funding for welfare programs.

"Some of the things one hears on talk shows are absolutely alarming, in terms of solutions proposed to the welfare problem," he said.

As he has done repeatedly during the taxpayers' revolt that has marked state politics for a decade, Cardinal Law warned that voters and politicians alike have an obligation to help the weakest members of society.

"I think it's fair to look at the welfare system we have, and if the system has a down side in terms of long-timer effects . . . it's always possible to do better. But to deny that the state has any responsibility to the poor would be immoral."

But the cardinal added that when change is made, those most affected should be listened to. "The poor can tell us best what needs to be done," he said.

Cardinal Law said he sees evidence that ordinary people are not hard- hearted. Despite today's "hard political rhetoric," he said, he has seen great generosity, and he cited large sums Catholics have given for disaster relief, such as $450,000 raised for earthquake victims in Los Angeles.

Ten years after taking over the archdiocese in a whirlwind of publicity -- in a tenure that early on was spiked with occasional brash reminders about the need for Catholics to be loyal to their church -- Cardinal Law has settled into a more serene role.

He's a media-savvy prelate who has lowered his profile and his rhetoric and granted comparatively few interviews recently. That was partly the result of fallout from a spate of clergy-sexual abuse cases two years ago, when the cardinal angrily denounced news coverage of the cases, remarks he later amended.

In the hourlong interview, he mentioned the news media only once. He said coverage of his arrival was "very helpful" in easing his transition from being a comparatively unknown bishop in the tiny diocese of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, in rural Missouri, to leader of the 1.9 million-member Boston archdiocese, third largest in the nation.

He acknowledged criticism from some that upon his arrival he thumped a drum for more loyalty to the papacy and more attention to the Catholic identity of church-affiliated colleges.

"It's always possible to second-guess the effectiveness of how someone expresses such views," he said. His conviction remains the same, that "we are a community of faith, we believe some things," and that the pope is not "an optional extra."

But he said that in meetings with leaders of Catholic colleges in the archdiocese, he has found that not only are the conversations congenial, but "the question of Catholic identity is as much a concern for them as it is for me."

Asked about his relationship with the three presidents who have served the nation in the past decade, Cardinal Law said the only "substantive, informal contact" had come with George Bush, but that he has prayed for the president every day, "whether I knew him or not."

He said that he has used any contact with the presidents "to articulate a vision on public policy issues," citing his advocacy on behalf of the people of Haiti, Cuba and Vietnam.

He has not changed his mind or his zeal in fighting abortion. "I believe with every fiber of my being that every human being is sacred from the first moment of conception to the last moment of natural death," he said.

"I will never check that conviction at the door," he said. "I have a heavy heart when I see otherwise well-intentioned people, good people . . . deny the fundamental human right, the right to life."

But he said he would not allow differences even on the abortion issue to prevent cooperation on other issues.

"I am not only interested in life in the womb, but in every other moment of life, and any issue that impacts the poor, the homeless, the sick, anything that brings peace and prevents violence."

"I will not lose an opportunity to further a good program or cause because a person does not support me in everything else," he said. "I will find as many ways to encourage the pro-life cause as I can, but I don't think that's done by yelling at anybody."

This story ran in the Boston Globe on 3/8/1994.
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