Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony stands in front of a tapestry depicting the 'Communion of Saints,' inside the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, in this April 26, 2002 file photo.
Posted on 10/12/2004 10:27:05 AM PDT by NYer
Hundreds of sexual abuse claims targeting the Roman Catholic Church in California have converged into one of the most complex civil litigation cases the state's judicial system has ever faced.
More than 850 alleged victims are suing dioceses throughout the state, with millions of dollars in potential settlements at stake in a legal battle that involves more than 300 attorneys and dozens of church insurers. The scope is so vast that the lawsuits have been lumped geographically into three consolidated cases, known simply as Clergy I, Clergy II and Clergy III.
After nearly two years, the pace of the complicated legal drama is finally starting to accelerate. Some trial dates have been set, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles is expected to be deposed by year's end in cases related to his tenure in the Stockton and Fresno dioceses and a hearing on public access to internal church documents is scheduled for Wednesday.
Legal analysts and attorneys agree that the developments, all of which involve Northern California cases, will affect settlement negotiations that have dragged on for months in Southern California — though exactly how is less certain.
Trials in a handful of Northern California cases, scheduled for March, May and June, could prompt settlements beforehand. Others say that, if there are a few multimillion-dollar jury verdicts, they could chill the ongoing talks in Southern California by giving plaintiffs inflated expectations and exhausting church resources.
"Depending on the circumstances, trials could bust loose settlements or it could lock the church in," said Stephen Yeazell, a law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, who specializes in complex civil litigation. "It's going to change the calculus no matter what."
Attorneys for the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which faces about 490 civil cases, said it would take more than a handful of trials to discern a pattern that would shape a settlement.
The dioceses involved in the Southern California talks — Los Angeles and Orange (Clergy I), and San Bernardino and San Diego (Clergy II) — account for more than 80 percent of all clergy-abuse lawsuits filed statewide.
In the two years since Cardinal Bernard Law of Boston resigned as archbishop at the height of a clergy abuse crisis there, California has emerged as the nation's new epicenter of the scandal that has shaken the church.
Much of the attention results from a 2002 state law that temporarily suspended the statute of limitations for filing molestation lawsuits, opening the door for hundreds of claims by people who say they were sexually abused by Catholic clergy. The number of cases filed against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles alone is just slightly less than the number filed in Boston, where the archdiocese settled with more than 550 plaintiffs for $90 million.
"In some respects, I think this is the most complex case that state courts have had to deal with," said Ray Boucher, the lead plaintiffs' attorney in Southern California. "It is really unique to have the confluence of potentially explosive cases in one location against such a limited number of defendants — essentially one."
The judge supervising the 160 clergy abuse lawsuits in Northern California (Clergy III) has kept his docket on a steady march toward trial, while in Southern California the nearly 700 cases entered a closed-door mediation process nearly two years ago. The difference in approach was necessary because of the sheer number of cases in Southern California, Boucher said.
Yet in clearing a path for trial in Northern California in recent months, Alameda County Judge Ronald Sabraw has ruled on key constitutional questions that touch on tenets central to all California clergy-abuse litigation.
The most important question challenges the constitutionality of the state law that opened the door for the deluge of lawsuits. If the law were found unconstitutional, the nearly 860 claims statewide against the church could be thrown out.
Church attorneys say the law unfairly targets the church and was drafted by the same trial lawyers now hired by plaintiffs to press their cases. In July, Sabraw ruled that the state law was constitutional in almost all cases, and allowed all but a handful of the Northern California claims to go forward.
Sabraw also ordered confidential documents on accused Northern California priests turned over to plaintiffs' attorneys in August — a move made over freedom-of-religion objections by the church. The next day, the judge placed a temporary seal on the documents to prevent the attorneys from making them public.
That order expires Wednesday. Media attorneys representing the New York Times Corp. and the San Francisco Chronicle will ask Sabraw to give their clients' access — a move that could prove devastating for the church.
Paul Balestracci, an attorney for the Diocese of Stockton, said he worried the public would distort information should it become available.
"There's the sensationalism about the cases in general and that's a big issue," he said.
LOS ANGELES - Cardinal Roger Mahony said he will begin a three-week sabbatical on Oct. 6 that will take him to Italy and several Central African countries.
In a letter that appeared in Friday's edition of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles newspaper The Tidings, Mahony said he hoped to gain a "renewed sense of commitment to Jesus Christ and to the work of evangelization" from the trip.
Attorneys for alleged church abuse victims expressed surprise at the announcement and criticized Mahony for leaving the country as legal proceedings in clergy sex abuse cases gain momentum.
"We're right in the middle of a process that clearly requires his attention," said Ray Boucher, lead attorney for alleged sex abuse victims in Southern California. "We don't have a problem with ministry in other countries, but there's a dire need for ministry here in Los Angeles. For him to leave without seeking leave of the court is irresponsible."
Archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg did not return calls Saturday. Archdiocese attorneys Donald Woods Jr. and J. Michael Hennigan did not respond to calls and e-mails.
The archdiocese faces nearly 500 clergy abuse lawsuits and was recently ordered to turn over confidential files of two priests as part of a separate criminal investigation. The archdiocese has said it will appeal that decision.
Mahony, 68, has been ordered to give a private deposition by Nov. 5 in sex abuse lawsuits against the Stockton and Fresno dioceses, where he worked before coming to Los Angeles two decades ago.
It was unclear what effect Mahony's sabbatical would have on the deposition.
Plaintiffs' attorney Venus Soltan said the cardinal's attorneys told her of the sabbatical and have "refused to give me any date within the time-frame ordered by the court."
In his open letter, Mahony said he was recently granted permission by the Holy See to take a leave each October for the next several years to visit countries where "newer, younger Catholic Churches are taking root." It will be his first sabbatical in the four decades since his ordination.
"Since Los Angeles has countless thousands of people from so many continents and countries, each year's sabbatical will enable me to know and understand the local culture and religious practices of our immigrant peoples," Mahony wrote.
Mahony, a high-profile advocate for the poor and oppressed, will travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi before flying to Italy in late October, where he will study art and architecture in Florence and Siena.
While in Africa, Mahony will attend public Masses, visit AIDS/HIV projects and orphanages and meet with Rwandan genocide victims, Congolese bishops and U.S. and United Nations officials.
He returns to Los Angeles on Oct. 29.
ON THE NET
Archdiocese of Los Angeles: http://www.la-archdiocese.org/english/
Sounds like tomorrow
will be a good day for news.
Bad news for the church.
Farewell tour?
If an indictment were to come down from the grand jury this month, do we have extradition treaties with these African countries?
Just wondering...
For a joyful split second, I read it as meaning "deposed" in the other sense, hopefully by an angry mob. But then I realized it meant the trial discovery sense.
| Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles is expected to be deposed by year's end For a joyful split second, I read it as meaning "deposed" in the other sense, hopefully by an angry mob. But then I realized it meant the trial discovery sense. |
Years ago I was talking to a seminarian and a law student in San Diego about problems the seminariarns were having. The law student's eyes got really big and started talking RICO statutes. He told us that the shuffling of priests, cover-ups and the like were very analogous to what a lawyer named Guilani in New York was doing about the same time to the mob.
MAybe angy mobs would be better for the cardinal
. . . and they'd make great TV!
Even among the worst of the bishops, Mahoney has to take the cake!
Lol!! Doubtful. Like Cher, he'll be on this tour for a while.
Think this one will make Court TV?
One can only wonder.
I know this is bad news at a time when the Church doesn't really need bad news.
I err on the side of The Church and wonder how many of the accusations are accurate and how many are 'remembered' using suggestive psychological tactics.
I have a friend who was actually beaten by an elderly Sister who should have been in a retirement home but was teaching first graders in NYC some 64 years ago. My friend says "surely I could sue The Church, but what would that gain? It would only hurt The Church I love and would not bring me the closure that forgiveness has brought."
Yes, sexual abuse is different from being black and blue with a swollen face and barely being able to see. If it were my child who was sexually abused, I'd be on death row now.
My concern is that it's too 'easy' for a child to yell 'sexual abuse' just to get back at someone. Case in point (altho' not a Priest), a child in a neighboring County was taken in by a school vice-principal and his family after being tossed out by her own family for promiscuity. Things went well for a few months and then the girl (around 15 years old) began making moves on the vice-principal whenever his wife wasn't around. He talked to some mutual friends and they advised him that from that time on, the child never be alone with the vice-principal. He wouldn't drive her to school any longer, so she had to take the bus. He made sure there was always a third party with him when he took the girl to club meetings, etc. Well, the girl got upset at being 'spurned' by 'the man she loved' and decided that the best way to "get back" at him was to yell "rape." She did and ruined this man's career. There was NO physical proof, only the lies of a conniving cherub-faced 15 year old girl. And guess who the jury believed?
I'm just saying it's hard to prove innocence when faced with a child accusing an adult of sexual misbehavior when there is no physical evidence either way.
I pray for The Church and The Priests who are dedicated and chaste.
May God have mercy on the souls of those priests who are not chaste.
"Even among the worst of the bishops, Mahoney has to take the cake!"
It appears as if he has done about the same kind of job protecting our young people as he has done protecting our liturgy and beliefs.
This is really, really scary. We are learning from the African priests, who come to replace vacationing priests here in the US, just how reverent and orthodox a priest should be. The fact that Mahony is going over there to the "newer, younger, churches" is frightening. If anything he should shut up and listen to them. He should be learning from them what it is to be a priest.
This is really, really scary. We are learning from the African priests, who come to replace vacationing priests here in the US, just how reverent and orthodox a priest should be. The fact that Mahony is going over there to the "newer, younger, churches" is frightening. If anything he should shut up and listen to them. He should be learning from them what it is to be a priest.
Oooops. Sorry.
(Should I post it again for those who didn't read it the first time?)
Thank you for this reminder. I too pray each night for ALL 'servants of our Lord' - the good, the bad and the ugly. I also pray for those catholics who are on the front lines fighting liturgical abuses in their respective parishes, along with the 'sheeples' who have been led astray by misguided shepherds.
You make an astute observation. Quite possibly, there will be some suits thrown out; however, this is the Los Angeles Diocese. Over the past few years, many of us in this forum have been following events in LA. We are now called to pray for all the catholics in that diocese, as they embark on what will surely be a difficult trial.
"We are learning from the African priests, who come to replace vacationing priests here in the US, just how reverent and orthodox a priest should be."
Much the same as in the Anglican communion, which I left just over a year ago. Many non-rad-lib Episcopal parishes are inviting African bishops of the Anglican communion to do confirmations, ordinations, etc. The Third World Anglicans have stood firmly and decisively against the shenanigans of Canterbury and 815 (815 is the address in NYC where ECUSA headquarters are located). It looks like it is much the same story for the Catholic Church as well. Anglican bishop Akinola of Nigeria and Cardinal Arinze have more in common with each other than either have with many in their respective communities.
The Cardinal says he will be visitng "newer, younger Catholic Churches" in Africa.
Well, this is interesting. I thought there was only ONE Catholic Church (capitalized), and that it has existed for over 2000 years. It is not "newer" and "younger".
The "Tidings" has always used lower-case spelling
("church" to describe BOTH a particular parish and the Roman Catholic Church). I can't tell you how many times I have suffered through such nonsensical expressions as "We're finding a new way to do church",
"we are church", and the like.
NOW, for the Cardinal to call these newer dioceses
"new, younger Catholic Churches" seems to suggest, in a subtle way, that these local churches are perhaps
something different from the Church in Rome.
Or is my imagination running away with me?
Mahony, a high-profile advocate for the poor and oppressed, will travel to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Burundi before flying to Italy in late October, where he will study art and architecture in Florence and Siena.
If understanding immigrant culture is really his purpose, his first sabbatical should be a car ride to Tijuana. A lot closer and less expensive. He can work his way south to the rest of Mexico and Central America from there. How many Congolese, Rwandans and Burundians are there in LA? Miniscule compared to the number of Hispanics, I'm thinking.
The problems in LA are mounting and starting to weigh him down. This is an attempt to clear his head and improve his state of mind by having a look at how badly off some people are. The hope is that this will make his own problems appear less monumental.
May the simple, honest faith of Africans open his clouded mind.
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