LOS ANGELES (CA)
The Telegraph (United Kingdom)
An American cardinal accused of covering up sex abuse by priests insisted on Tuesday he would attend next month’s conclave to elect a new Pope, despite a growing campaign among Catholics to have him barred.
By Nick Squires, Rome
9:49PM GMT 19 Feb 2013
Roger Mahony, 76, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, was last month relieved of all his church duties for allegedly trying to conceal abuse cases involving dozens of priests in the US.
He was stripped of those duties by his successor, Archbishop Jose Gomez, who took over from him in 2011.
Catholics on both sides of the Atlantic said it would be wrong for the disgraced cardinal to attend the conclave, the secretive gathering of cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel which will choose a new pontiff sometime in mid-March.
But Cardinal Mahony posted a message on his Twitter account saying he would defy his critics and turn up for the conclave.
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