Editing Bernard Francis Law (section)

==Retirement and death==
It was "commonly believed that [Law would] live out his retirement in Rome" (when he reached 80 years of age).<ref>Arsenault, Mark, [http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/11/22/cardinal_bernard_law_retires_from_post_in_rome/?page=full "Law retires from post in Rome"], ''The Boston Globe'', November 22, 2011. Retrieved February 5, 2013.</ref> After his retirement in 2011, Law continued to live in Vatican City, and regularly attended the annual July 4 Independence Day parties held by the United States Embassy to the Holy See.<ref name=graun7no15 />

In March 2013, Law was living at the [[Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore]].<ref name=debunk>{{cite web |url=http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/debunking-three-urban-legends-about-pope-francis |title=Debunking three 'urban legends' about Pope Francis |work=National Catholic Reporter |date=March 24, 2013 |access-date=July 29, 2013 |author=Allen, John L. Jr.}}</ref> {{As of|2015}}, he was living in the [[Palazzo della Cancelleria]].<ref name=palazzo /> He visited the United States for the last time in August 2015 for the funeral of Cardinal [[William Wakefield Baum]] in Washington, D.C.<ref name="WPobit">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/cardinal-bernard-law-boston-archbishop-at-center-of-church-sex-abuse-scandal-dies-at-86/2017/12/20/8e679e8c-e533-11e7-833f-155031558ff4_story.html|title=Cardinal Bernard Law, Boston archbishop at center of church sex-abuse scandal, dies at 86|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=December 19, 2017|access-date=December 19, 2017}}</ref>

In May 2012, the ''[[National Catholic Reporter]]'' and ''[[The Tablet]]'', a British Catholic weekly, reported that Law was "the person in Rome most forcefully supporting" Baltimore Archbishop [[William E. Lori]]'s petition to investigate and discipline the [[Leadership Conference of Women Religious]], a large group of American nuns.<ref>{{cite news |last=Bratu |first=Becky |date=May 10, 2012 |title=US priests reportedly behind Vatican crackdown on nuns |work=NBC News |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/us-priests-reportedly-behind-vatican-crackdown-nuns-flna764748 |access-date=February 5, 2013}}</ref>

After a long illness, Law died in Rome on December 20, 2017, at the age of 86. He is buried in a chapel at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore.<ref name="Obit">{{cite news|url= https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/obituaries/2017/12/19/lawbernard/PBOOOaMLW783ylMI1L6pzO/story.html | title= Cardinal Bernard Law, who left Boston in wake of sex abuse scandal, dies at 86 |work= The Boston Globe |access-date=December 19, 2017|date=December 19, 2017}}</ref><ref name="WPobit" /> His funeral rites, following the standard for a cardinal who dies in Rome, included Mass in [[St. Peter's Basilica]] on December 21 at which [[Pope Francis]] said the final prayers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/12/20/world/cardinal-bernard-law-death-funeral-reaction/index.html|title='Chop him up:' Accusers seethe over Vatican funeral plans for Cardinal Law|publisher=CNN|date=December 20, 2017|access-date=December 21, 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://abcnews.go.com/International/funeral-disgraced-cardinal-bernard-law-slated-thursday-st/story?id=51923456|title=Funeral for disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law slated for Thursday at St. Peter's Basilica in Rome|work=ABC News|date=December 21, 2017|access-date=December 21, 2017}}</ref> [[Vatican Television Center|Vatican TV]] did not livestream the Mass as it normally does.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ellement|first1=John R.|title=Amid Grandeur of St. Peter's Basilica, pope attends funeral of disgraced Cardinal Law|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/12/21/vatican-broadcast-cardinal-law-funeral-service/RikvzLGHdPjF7JmEDrasEP/story.html|access-date=December 21, 2017|work=Boston Globe|date=December 21, 2017}}</ref>

Upon his death, his successor as Archbishop of Boston, Cardinal [[Seán Patrick O'Malley|Seán O'Malley]], [[Order of Friars Minor Capuchin|OFMCap]], said it was "unfortunate" that Law "had such a high-profile place in the life of the Church". He speculated that today Law would not receive the sort of Vatican appointments he enjoyed after leaving Boston "but unfortunately we're living with the consequences of that".<ref>{{cite news|title=Pope Francis presides over the final rites of Cardinal Law's funeral Mass|url=https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2017/12/21/pope-francis-presides-over-final-rites-cardinal-laws-funeral-mass|access-date=December 21, 2017|work=[[America (magazine)|America]]|date=December 21, 2017}}</ref>

''The Guardian'' noted at the time that Law had become "a symbol of the Roman Catholic Church's systematic protection of paedophile priests" because of his refusal to stop sexual abuse in Boston.<ref>{{cite news|date=December 20, 2017|title=Cardinal Bernard Law, central figure in Boston sexual abuse scandal, dies at 86|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/20/cardinal-bernard-law-boston-sex-abuse-scandal-dies|last=Kirchgaessner|first=Stephanie}}</ref>