LOS ANGELES (CA)
USA Today
Michael Winter, USA TODAY
The Los Angeles Catholic diocese must release the names of priests and church officials contained in confidential records about sexual abuse of children, a California judge ordered Monday.
Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias reversed a previous ruling by another judge that allowed the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to black out the identifies of church officials in 30,000 pages of documents that are to be released, the Los Angeles Times reports. The files include medical and psychiatric records, abuse reports, church memos and letters with the Vatican.
Negotiations on releasing the records are part of the landmark $660 million settlement in 2007 over priest abuse. The diocese had redacted names — including that of retired Cardinal Roger Mahoney — and the release was expected by mid-January. It’s not yet clear whether today’s ruling will delay the release.
More than 20 priests have exhausted appeals to prevent the release, arguing it would violate their privacy rights.
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