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.
TSgt is muddying the waters.
The settlement that was agreed to involved redaction.
The complainants had one interpretation of the settlement's redaction provisions, and the diocese had another.
The complainants sued to enforce their redaction interpretation and the diocese has appealed.
That legal process is ongoing.
TSgt apparently believes that the diocese of LA, alone among all entities in the US, should not have the right to appeal judgments.
Sometimes on FR it’s “Punishment first, then trial.”
I thank God for Pope Benedict and for Archbishop Gomez.
WRONG!
The files the church released are incomplete and many are unaccounted for. In addition, on many documents the names of church supervisors informed of abuse allegations were redacted by the archdiocese, in violation of a judge’s order.
This isn’t due process, this is bait and switch and coverup.
I have never known a practicing Catholic who left the Church for "nondenominational" (there is no such thing) services.
I have known quite a few nominal, non-practicing Catholics who have left the Church for "nondenominational" services - and it has been for one reason: they starting dating or got married to men or women who were devout, churchgoing members of those congregations.
The abuse scandal is a convenient excuse for those who haven't darkened a parish door in decades to suddenly wax self-righteous about their neglect of the Third Commandment.
The court ordered that the documents be released without redactions.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles fought for six years all the way to the State Supreme Court to block the release of the documents. Early in January, Judge Emilie H. Elias overturned a previous decision, and ordered the archdiocese to lift the redactions of the names of certain kinds of officials: archbishops and bishops, vicars for clergy members and directors of treatment facilities, as well as pastors, “church agents” or employees who had supervisory responsibility over an accused priest and were made aware of complaints or suspicions about him.
The names of supervisors, like pastors in parishes or the supervisors of religious orders, are missing from the released documents.
Rule One: "Rome" is the locus of all evil in the Universe.
Rule Two: In case of doubt, see Rule One.
Conclusion: "Rome" must be destroyed. All else is irrelevant.
I am not a mind reader; I do not and cannot know what other folks are thinking, or how they are motivated, unless they explicitly tell me.
I find, however, that I can predict the actions and statements of some folks accurately if I assume that they are motivated by and act according to "The Rules" above.
Again, I make no claims as to their actual beliefs or state of mind. I merely point out a useful tool for predicting behaviour.
Do you really not understand how class actions work?
Class action suits are first, last and always about money.
They are assembled by lawyers whose job is track down, recruit and coordinate litigation - and the way they are able to do this is by offering plaintiffs the prospect of a handsome cash payout.
Don't tell me you actually think all this is about justice.
That is the plaintiffs' claim.
On January 31st the court so ordered. The deadline is February 22nd.
It’s obvious you don’t care about the victims and neither does the church.
I lived in California more than 20 years ago, and even then, I had no use for Mahony.
He would appear before TV cameras and urge people to vote for democrats, and was at the forefront of every liberal issue of the day, including hostility towards the Second Amendment.
I remember him flying arround L.A. in his private helicopter.
He should have been given the boot a long time ago.
I care about people who were actually victimized, not people who are in it for the money.
Your lack of knowledge of the class action industry is not a black mark against me personally, nor against the Church.
Either you fail to grasp the legal concept of punitive damages or you unreasonably want the victims to accept a hollow apology and walk away.
Oh, I understand punitive damages.
The way things normally work when one is the victim of a violent crime is that you press charges in criminal court.
Then you go to trial.
Then, whether you win or lose, you use the evidence presented in that trial in civil court to go after compensatory and punitive damages.
Then you bring that case to trial and you win that case, and the court awards you your damages.
And then there are the cases that were confected from the very beginning as settlement packages.
So if this is simply about money why did the LA Diocese settle?
Unless...
No shame on Mahoney’s part, that’s for sure.
For two reasons:
(1) There are many people who were actually and truly brutalized and they deserve some compensation, even if inadequate and mixed with those of grifters.
(2) For every actual offender rightfully exposed and shamed, there would be ten or more innocent priests who would be falsely accused and unjustly marked for life through public trials.
I know lots who have left the church over theological differences which had nothing to do with marriage and dating.
Those people saw the difference between what the Catholic church claims and what Scripture teaches and threw their lot in with God and Scripture.
Not to mention, since Catholic divorce, aka annulment is so readily available, there's no incentive to leave for that reason.
All a practicing Catholic has to do is get the church to annul the marriage and they are free to remarry without (allegedly) the strain of sin. So claiming that Catholics leave for reasons of morality falls flat.
The abuse scandal is a convenient excuse for those who haven't darkened a parish door in decades to suddenly wax self-righteous about their neglect of the Third Commandment.
Better to leave for that reason than stay and defend by excusing said sex abuse and cover-ups.
And since Catholics are all concerned about breaking the Ten Commandments, what about the not bowing down to graven images? They sure don't have any problem disobeying THAT commandment.
Well, here's another "rule" useful for predicting behavior:
Rule One: Everything else BUT "Rome" is the locus of all evil in the Universe.
Rule Two: In case of doubt, see Rule One.
Conclusion: "Rome" must NEVER be destroyed. All else is irrelevant.
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