THIS STORY HAS BEEN FORMATTED FOR EASY PRINTING

Cardinal took car to N.J., flew to Rome

By Stephen Kurkjian, Globe Staff, 4/24/2002

lthough much of Cardinal Bernard F. Law's previous trip to the Vatican last week remains cloaked in mystery, one portion of it is now known - how he got back and forth to Rome without anyone in Boston knowing that he had left.

On the night of April 16, Law announced in a statement released by the Boston Archdiocese that he had spent the ''past few days'' in Rome speaking to the pope and Vatican officials about whether he needed to resign because of his role in the burgeoning clergy sexual abuse scandal.

Despite requests for more information, the archdiocese provided no further details of the trip. However, one official familiar with Law's travel said yesterday that contrary to speculation he had used a private jet, Law had been driven to Newark International Airport, and boarded a Continental Airlines flight direct to Rome.

He returned several days later by the same route. According to church officals, Law left on April 12 and returned on April 16.

This story ran on page A19 of the Boston Globe on 4/24/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.