LOS ANGELES (CA)
U.S. Catholic.
By Scott Alessi
When the Archdiocese of Los Angeles was required by a court of law to hand over internal documents related to past cases of sexual abuse by priests, it was pretty clear why the archdiocese never wanted them to see the light of day. The documents show that the archdiocese, and specifically now retired archbishop Cardinal Roger Mahony, deliberately covered up the sexual abuse of children and sheltered priests who were guilty of abusing children from legal action.
Sadly, with all we’ve learned about how the church for years hid these atrocious crimes, that part wasn’t surprising. But this part is: Current Archbishop Jose Gomez issued a public statement that Cardinal Mahony, his predecessor, would be removed from all involvement in archdiocesan administration and would no longer be active in public ministry. Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry, who also was implicated in past cover ups of abuse while working under Mahony, has tendered his resignation from archdiocesan administration as well. (In another surprise, Mahony has issued a public response that attempts to save face by indicating how he cleaned up the archdiocese’s handling of abuse cases in more recent years.)
It is worth reading Gomez’s statement, and I think he deserves to be commended for taking this stance. It is rare to see bishops condemn one of their own, and taking public action against Mahony is a bold move that shows Gomez isn’t taking the matter lightly. It is a positive and necessary step for a church that has a long way to go to repair its reputation on this issue and to prove that the sins of the past will never be repeated.
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