THE PARTICULAR circumstances of this time suggest a quiet departure," Cardinal Bernard Law wrote Friday, announcing his resignation as archbishop of Boston, the epicenter of the Catholic Church's worldwide sex abuse scandal.

It was too long in coming.

His repeated failure to remove sexually abusive priests from the ministry had already tarnished his distinguished tenure as head of one of the church's most powerful archdioceses. His apologies and reforms failed to quell growing dissent or restore the shaken faith of families who sought truth, but for too long heard silence or insufficient explanations from their moral and spiritual leaders.

The Vatican declined his offer to resign in April; it shouldn't have. Shockingly, the shame and pain of some 450 alleged victims had not been enough to remove him from leadership.

Neither were the spreading tentacles of the multimillion-dollar scandal, with its financially debilitating settlements and lawsuits that may yet prompt the Boston Archdiocese to declare bankruptcy. At least 80 Boston priests since 1960 have been accused of abusing minors, including many whose crimes continued because supervisors allowed them to keep working around youths.

The beginning of the end followed newly reported revelations from victims' lawyers, taken from the church's personnel records, documenting the church's tolerance of priests' misconduct. Last week, 58 priests signed a petition, saying in part, "Your position as our bishop is so compromised that it is no longer possible for you to exercise the spiritual leadership required for the Church of Boston."

In the end, Cardinal Law's flawed judgment and lack of openness with his faithful undermined confidence in church leadership. Though he had acknowledged the church's failings and called for forgiveness and healing, his actions more than suggested resentment that the victims and their advocates among the laity had turned to the media to shine the light of the truth.

One can't help but wonder whether their judgment of him would have been so harsh had he from the start held truth's torch. Witness the profound statement made last week by the actions of Baltimore's Cardinal William H. Keeler, when he walked across a courtroom to shake the hand of Dontee Stokes, a young man accused of shooting the priest he alleges abused him.

For all who have been touched by the church's sexual abuse tragedy, Cardinal Law's resignation is a historic ending and a symbolic beginning - and anything but a quiet departure.