Replies

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the fourth Archbishop of Los Angeles, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991. of Los Angeles city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; is the subject of a federal grand jury investigation. During this investigation, US attorney Thomas O'Brien will determine if Mahony was at all fraudulent in his handling of priests accused of sexual abuse.
The cardinal has been accused of moving priests accused of abuse to other parishes instead of removing them from ministry. He has also refused access to the church's personnel files.
Two years ago, the archdiocese agreed to pay $660 million to 508 victims of sexual abuse--the largest payout since the scandal broke in the 1990s.
The Los Angeles diocese, unlike the dioceses of Lincoln, Neb. and Tulsa, Okla., is considered to be compliant with the US bishops' child protection charter, which was adopted in 2002 and calls for annual audits.
link

What I do not understand, is why the Holy Father has not come down like a ton of bricks on this one. All he would have to do (at the very least) is proclaim that anyone associated with the church, at any level, who ever molested a child, lost his Priest-hood the instant the crime was committed, and as such is excommunicated and will be turned over to the local authorities, and that the church will provide full support into the investigation. Yes, it is that black and white.

For reasons I cannot fathom, the Church has not done this; this is a very simple litmus test. Would Christ tolerate this behavior? Would the Holy Virgin? You are judged by the company you keep; a church that tolerates this invited condemnation.

And yes, it's still going on today - this article was written THIS year .... Feb. 2009!!!

What I do not understand, is why the Holy Father has not come down like a ton of bricks on this one.

... or Bishops Hubbard and Clark or .... there is a fairly long list. For many years, I wondered the same thing. Then, one day, I stumbled upon the following article which helped me gain a better understanding. Hope it is helpful to you as well.

Why Doesn't the Pope Do Something about "Bad" Bishops?

anyone associated with the church, at any level, who ever molested a child, lost his Priest-hood the instant the crime was committed, and as such is excommunicated

But this is already the case. Excommunication occurs automatically when a believer knowingly and of his/her own free will commits a mortal sin. This applies to priests, religious, and laypersons. Believers can also be formally excommunicated by the Church in certain circumstances. Both types of excommunication can be undone through the Sacrament of Penance.

In the Western Church, a priest can't "lose" his priesthood; he can only be laicized -- that is, dismissed from the clerical state. Such a priest is denied the authority to administer the Sacraments except in certain extremely rare circumstances. This happens automatically as a penalty for certain grave offenses, or by a papal decree granted for grave reasons.