LOS ANGELES (CA)
Wall Street Journal

By TAMARA AUDI, VAUHINI VARA and JIM CARLTON

LOS ANGELES—The 12,000 pages of personnel files released Thursday night by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles promised to shed light on the church hierarchy’s response to decades of sexual-abuse allegations, though plaintiffs’ lawyers and others said it could be days before they are able to fully explore the documents.

The documents were released after years of wrangling during which lawyers for the church repeatedly sought permission to redact the names of senior officials before making the papers public. A Los Angeles judge overruled that request and on Thursday ordered the documents released by Feb. 22. They were posted on the archdiocese’s website within hours, catching many interested parties by surprise. Victims’ lawyers said they were struggling to read through the files and search for new or revealing information.

Nationwide, the church has released…