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You seem to have some sort of bug up your butt over Mahony. You live in TX, not CA. It seems you are not aware of the obnoxious law that the left wing CA legislature and our beloved Governor, who is a CINO, signed.
That law removed the statute of limitations on all sexual abuse cases no matter how long ago they allegedly happened. For a one year period, the year 2003, anyone can file any case against any religious no matter when the alleged incident(s) happened. The plaintiffs attorneys love it, and cases are coming out of the woodwork with little or nothing to back them up. How many are real and how many are phony, no one knows. What is apparent, however, is that the church and the priests will have a tough time refuting any claims, which likely will result in claimants getting at least some monetary settlement.

I wonder how you would feel if someone filed a case against you today for an incident that allegedly happened 30 years ago. How would you defend against it? In my opinion, if a person believes that he/she has been abused, then that person should have a reasonable finite period in which to take any legal action. Such used to be the case in CA. It no longer is in this case.

This is not a matter of protecting sexual molesters. It is a matter of ensuring and protecting the legal rights of all of us. That same legislature and governor can just as easily decide next year that due to our budget shortfall, the statute of limitations on tax cheating will be removed and the state will start making claims on 30 year old tax returns. Would you be able to produce your tax return records and receipts from 30 years ago?

Mahony is bad news. We here in CA have to live with him. You don't. I live in the next diocese to the south and am sure glad I do. However, an archdiocese casts a big shadow, so we get to see and hear his nonsense all too often. Plus, when we drive into downtown LA, we get to look at the monstrosity of a cathedral that he built as a monument to himself. It is so close to Interstate 5 that some call it Our Lady of the Freeway.

What is apparent, however, is that the church and the priests will have a tough time refuting any claims, which likely will result in claimants getting at least some monetary settlement.

Why will refuting claims be hard? There's either evidence or not; the priest is either believeable, or he's not believeable. If the diocese settles with someone who has no case, then the people running it are even bigger fools than they now appear to be.

What is irrefutable, however, is that some bishops, Mahoney among them, are not cooperating with prosecutors or the lay review board. There's no excuse for this.

Do you feel sorry for these people because they've got to deal with these claims? They brought this on themselves, with the decades of cover-up.

I'm Catholic, like you, and if my Texas bishop were embarrassing the entire US Church, I would expect you would ride herd on him, just as I'm doing on Mahoney.