LOS ANGELES (CA)
Reuters
(Reuters) – A former Los Angeles Catholic archbishop who was stripped of all public duties after being linked to efforts to conceal child sex abuse by priests said on Monday he planned to participate in the process to elect a successor to Pope Benedict XVI.
The announcement by Cardinal Roger Mahony, which angered a prominent victims support group, came less than two weeks after 12,000 pages of church files unsealed under court order showed Mahony worked to send priests accused of abuse out of state to shield known abusers from law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s.
“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,” Mahoney, 76, said in a statement released on Monday by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. …
Joelle Casteix, western regional director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said she was concerned that it was not in Mahony’s best interest to “elect anyone who will punish wrongdoers and take child molesters out of ministry.
“We fear that anyone that he votes for will only continue this shameful cover-up of child sexual abuse,” she added.
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