Cardinal Law, two other bishops have testified

Cardinal Bernard F. Law and at least two former high-ranking bishops of the Boston Archdiocese have testified before a federal grand jury investigating the case of a Boston-area priest who was transferred to a California Veterans Affairs medical facility despite notations in church records of possible sexual misconduct
Several sources familiar with the proceedings say the grand jury is focusing on church officials who approved the priest’s transfer, not on any allegations against the priest. Law, who stepped down as Boston’s archbishop in 2002 after apologizing for his role in the clergy abuse scandal, testified for three hours June 8. Two additional bishops, including John B. McCormack, head of the Manchester, N.H., diocese, testified more than a month ago.

The case before the grand jury concerns the Rev. William J. Scanlan, 58, a onetime Stoughton priest who moved to California in 1998 to take an assignment as a military chaplain at a VA hospital in Palo Alto. Church records released under a court order two years ago contain a 1987 unsigned note that said Scanlan “fools around with kids.” And a 1993 note expressed concern about “possible over-involvement with boys.”