LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Australian
[the Los Angeles files]
AFP
February 02, 2013
THE Archbishop of Los Angeles stripped his predecessor of all church duties last night as he released files on more than 100 clerics, as required under a 2007 lawsuit deal over alleged sex abuse.
Archbishop Jose Gomez said retired cardinal Roger Mahony would “no longer have any administrative or public duties”, while Cardinal Mahony’s former top adviser on sex abuse issues, Thomas Curry, had stepped down as a regional bishop.
“These files document abuses that happened decades ago, but that does not make them less serious,” Archbishop Gomez wrote, releasing the personnel files online after prolonged wrangling over whether the names should be blanked out.
“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behaviour described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed. We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today.”
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