LOS ANGELES (CA)
National Catholic Reporter
by Jerry Filteau | Feb. 11, 2013
Before his name became connected with failing to adequately address clergy abuse of minors, Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles was better known for his reputation as one of the nation’s leading church advocates of social justice, particularly for farmworkers and immigrants.
As a young priest in Fresno, Calif., during the 1965-70 Delano Grape Strike, Mahony became a nationally known figure.
Joining forces with nationally noted labor priest Msgr. George Higgins and Auxiliary Bishop Joseph Donnelly of Hartford, Conn., in the U.S. bishops’ ad hoc Committee on Farm Labor, the three helped mediate the conflict between California grape growers and their predominantly Mexican and Filipino migrant workers.
During his seminary years, Mahony became fluent in Spanish while working with the braceros, temporary Mexican farmworkers brought into the U.S. yearly to harvest crops. His work as the key on-site coordinator for the committee’s mediation work eventually led to the formation of Cesar Chavez’s United Farm Workers, as well as to major advances in just wages and working conditions for farm laborers.
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