Posted on 02/11/2013 9:07:51 PM PST by Alex Murphy
LOS ANGELES -- Nearly two weeks ago, Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced he had removed Cardinal Roger Mahony from all public duties amid revelations that he plotted to conceal child molestation by priests from law enforcement.
But Mahony on Monday found himself back at the center of church business, as one of 117 cardinals who will elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
Mahony was quick to weigh in on the papal news - posting a statement on his online blog at 8:38 a.m. PDT, two hours before the archdiocese announced that Gomez would issue his own remarks at the midday Mass at the downtown Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.
In the posting, Mahony called Benedict an "extraordinary" successor to St. Peter and that he intended to participate in choosing the next pontiff.
"I look forward to traveling to Rome soon to help thank Pope Benedict XVI for his gifted service to the Church, and to participate in the Conclave to elect his successor," Mahony wrote.
Benedict's unexpected decision to step down created a seemingly awkward situation in the Los Angeles Archdiocese, which is reeling over newly released documents showing how church leaders handled the abuse cases. Documents show that Mahony and Bishop Thomas Curry worked to shield abusers from police. Both have since issued detailed apologies.
Gomez wrote in a letter to parishioners last month that the priest files were "brutal and painful reading. The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children."
Gomez wrote that Mahony, his predecessor as leader of the archdiocese, "has expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care. Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties." A church spokesman later clarified that Mahony remained a priest "in good standing" and that he maintained all his powers as a cardinal.
Mahony is one of 11 U.S. cardinals who will vote for the next pope.
Father Thomas Rausch of Loyola Marymount University said Mahony has no choice in the matter: Church law requires him to vote, along with all cardinals under age 80, he said.
"It is a sacred responsibility of every cardinal of the church who is able to attend the conclave to vote," said Tod Tamberg, archdiocese spokesman.
Still, Mahony's role in selecting a pope drew mixed reactions among Catholics in Southern California.
Manuel Vega, a retired Oxnard police officer who as an altar boy was molested from the age of 12 to 15 by Father Fidencio Silva, said Mahony would bring shame on the Catholic Church by going to Rome to vote.
"Mahony is going without clean hands. His hands are dirty ... from covering up years of sexual abuse. How can he be part of the conclave?" Vega asked.
Other Catholics said they were pleased that Mahony would be voting. They said they hoped that he would bring a more liberal and American point of view to the conclave, which will be dominated by the conservative cardinals whom Popes John Paul II and Benedict XVI have appointed over the last three decades.
Jane Argento, a parishioner at Holy Family Church in South Pasadena, said she was livid at Mahony when she read about his actions after the archdiocese's release of sex abuse documents. But she said the relatively liberal Mahony reflected her own Catholic convictions about larger roles for women in the church, among other issues. Mahony, she said, was the architect of a pastoral associate program in Los Angeles that had trained several women to run parishes, including her own.
"I'm relieved that Mahony is going," Argento said. "Frankly, it's one more vote for a more progressive church."
Larry Loughlin, 77, a parishioner and social worker, said it was reasonable that Mahony vote, given church rules, and that he was not the only cardinal accused of failing to remove predatory priests from churches and schools. Others include Cardinal Justin Regali, who was accused of ignoring evidence of sex abuse, including rape, in the Philadelphia archdiocese before retiring in 2011.
"Mahony is not the only cardinal to be accused of protecting priests; it is a worldwide crisis," Loughlin said.
Parishioners who attended Monday's midday Mass at the downtown cathedral said they were saddened by news of Benedict's resignation but hailed it as a chance to renew a church still suffering from the repercussions of the abuse scandals. The scandals also appeared to be on the mind of Gomez, who celebrated the Mass and called for prayer "for anyone who has been hurt by a member of the church" and for "the healing for wounds and restoration of trust."
Some parishioners took a forgiving attitude toward the cardinal.
"We all have our faults," said Charles Drees, who attended the Mass. "God bless Cardinal Mahony."
Rausch said he hoped that Mahony would bring to the conclave a deeper understanding of the American church and its more collaborative working style. The Los Angeles cardinal demonstrated that leadership style in calling together all parishes in Southern California to help set archdiocesan priorities in a three-year process, completed in 2003, Rausch said.
"What I'd hope the cardinal would bring is a less top-down, more consultative style of church governance," Rausch said. "The governance of the church in Rome under John Paul II and Benedict has not been as collegial. They exercise authority from the top."
Father Thomas Reese of Georgetown University's Woodstock Theological Center said he did not believe that Mahony's troubles in Los Angeles would diminish his influence in Rome, where his one vote would carry as much weight as any other cardinal's. He said he hoped Mahony would make sure that discussions about the next pontiff include a full understanding of the sex abuse crisis and a greater sensitivity to Latin America and immigrant issues.
Although more than 40 percent of all Catholics live in Latin America, Rausch said that 63 percent of the cardinals who will elect the next pope are from Europe and North America. The majority of them were appointed by Benedict, he said.
In his remarks at Monday's Mass, Gomez hailed Benedict's decision, calling it a "beautiful" act of humility.
"This is the act of a saint, who thinks not about himself but only about the will of God and the good of God's people," Gomez said.
**In his remarks at Monday's Mass, Gomez hailed Benedict's decision, calling it a "beautiful" act of humility. "This is the act of a saint, who thinks not about himself but only about the will of God and the good of God's people," Gomez said.**
Makes me want to puke.
IOW, protecting perverts AND being a lousy bishop is okay, as long as you're a liberal.
Just a hunch, but I'm guessing she voted for Clinton, Obama, Feinstein, and Boxer.
Nowhere in this article does it mention that these are "alleged" cases. It is clear that many of these cases did happen and it is clear that many of them did not.
Mahony belongs in jail. Remember he is also the creep who led the illegal Mexicans in their march against Prop 187 years ago, and also against Arizona’s SB1070 in 2010. He is an enemy of America.
Mahony belongs in jail. Remember he is also the creep who led the illegal Mexicans in their march against Prop 187 years ago, and also against Arizona’s SB1070 in 2010. He is an enemy of America.
I think he belongs in jail too. And NOT voting. So sorry he gets to. Rankled in LA.
It’s and act of abandonment and cowardice, unfortunate from a man who has done so many wonderful and intelligent things over the years.
I cannot imagine the Apostle Paul saying this about a bishop over one of the churches he founded in the first century. If he insisted that a member of the church at Corinth, who had sexual relations with his father's wife (most probably NOT his own mother, but a stepmother), be cast out of the church if he refused to repent and desist from that sin, then what kind of reaction would Paul have had to the very leaders of the church not only molesting and raping little kids but helping each other get away with it and cover it up for decades???!!!
I'm sorry, but waving your hand and saying, "Meh, we all have our faults.", is sickening to me. Sure we have our faults and none of us is sinless, but, come on! We're talking about one of the most disturbing and horrendous acts of depravity a person could commit - even hardened criminals in prison detest such a person. ALL of us are repulsed by it and believe a person found guilty of such a crime deserves the harshest punishment they can get. What's wrong with people? Some leaders of your religion are involved in this gross sin that destroys children's lives and it's brushed away as if it was no worse than getting a speeding ticket?
I sincerely hope whoever gets the crown will lay down the hammer on this whole deplorable saga and put some teeth behind the bark this time. Anything less will further diminish the brand. There may not BE a next time.
Why this man is still a priest, much less a Cardinal of the church, I will not understand. He should have been defrocked LONG ago, he is a depraved individual, who encourages others to do the same.
1 Corinthians 5:1-13
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that is not tolerated even among pagans, for a man has his father's wife. 2 And you are arrogant! Ought you not rather to mourn? Let him who has done this be removed from among you.
3 For though absent in body, I am present in spirit; and as if present, I have already pronounced judgment on the one who did such a thing. 4 When you are assembled in the name of the Lord Jesus and my spirit is present, with the power of our Lord Jesus, 5 you are to deliver this man to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord.
6 Your boasting is not good. Do you not know that a little leaven leavens the whole lump? 7 Cleanse out the old leaven that you may be a new lump, as you really are unleavened. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Let us therefore celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth.
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— 10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. 11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? 13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
End of story.
For real?!?!
Speakers saying that Mahony will bring a liberal vote to Rome—a liberal California vote —are frightening.
Last thing the Church needs is more liberalism from a man who has hidden homosexuality and wants women to be running parish’s.
It’s frightening, and it’s no wonder so many are leaving the Church for non-denominational services.
Americans, of all people, should be able to understand the notion of due process.
You aren't society.
Care to respond to the factual components of my post or is it just easier to attack me?
She the LA Diocese comply with the court order especially considering this is a settlement they agreed to?
The victims were and are free to pursue criminal complaints in a court of law. While statutes of limitations have run out in many cases, there are other criminal cases they could pursue.
They have chosen to negotiate for cash instead.
Their due process remains intact.
To my knowledge, none of the victims have sought recourse to canonical courts to have Mahony punished and to take away his cardinalate. Then again, there are no cash damages in that.
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