Boston ? A confident Cardinal Bernard Law was interrupted by applause Sunday when he vowed he would not step down despite increasing pressure from a child sex abuse scandal.

“Archbishop is not a corporate executive. He’s not a politician,” Law said before his homily during Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. “It’s a role of a pastor. It’s a role of a teacher. It’s a role of a father.

A placard asking parishoners to wear a red

“When there are problems in the family, you don’t walk away. You work them out together with God’s help,” he said.

The pressure on Law has been escalating since the Jan. 18 conviction of defrocked priest John Geoghan, who faces 10 years in prison for indecent assault and battery on a 10-year-old boy. Geoghan also faces two more criminal trials and 80 civil lawsuits.

Law subsequently apologized to abuse victims and announced a policy of “zero tolerance” for sexual abuse. The change in policy came after documents showed Law knew of the accusations against Geoghan but stayed silent and allowed him to remain a priest.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston initially gave authorities names of 40 accused priests and said none was active, but in the past week, eight active priests were suspended because of allegations of abuse.

More than 80 names now have been given to district attorneys in the five counties comprising the Boston archdiocese.

Law said it’s “terribly painful” to risk damaging priests’ reputations by suspending them or giving their names to authorities. Some, he noted, had one allegation from decades ago and some might simply be innocent.

“But unless there is a higher wisdom that someone else has, I believe that the only responsible way for us to handle this issue is with a zero tolerance policy,” he said. “Yes, I am concerned for the pain that people suffer in the process of implementing that but I think we have to do that.”

The archdiocese has yet to give the names of victims of suspected pedophile priests to prosecutors, some of whom are growing impatient as they consider filing charges.

Without names of victims and victims willing to participate in a prosecution district attorneys say they can’t investigate priests accused of child molestation. It’s too early to threaten subpoenas to obtain names, they say, but they haven’t ruled it out.

Law on Sunday said “we’re in the process of contacting victims now” but would not offer a timelime on giving them to prosecutors.