Cardinal Mahony Stripped of Public Church Duties

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Cardinal Mahony Stripped of Public Church DutiesLos Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez  on Thursday announceddramatic actions in response to the priest abuse scandal, saying that CardinalRoger Mahony would be stripped of public duties in the church and that SantaBarbara Bishop Thomas J. Curry has stepped down.Gomez said in a statement that Mahony — who led the L.A.archdiocese from 1985 to 2011 — “will no longer have any administrative orpublic duties.”Gomez also announced the church has released a trove ofconfidential church files detailing how the Los Angeles archdiocese dealt withpriests accused of molestation.Gomez wrote in a letter to parishioners that the files would bedisturbing to read.“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behaviordescribed in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, noexplaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had theduty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed,” he wrote. “We need toacknowledge that terrible failure today.”Gomez’s statement came a week after the release of internalCatholic church records. The records showed 15 years before the clergy sexabuse scandal came to light, Mahony and Curry discussed ways to conceal themolestation of children from law enforcement. Those records represent just afraction of the files the church released Thursday. The Times is now reviewingthose files.The records released last week offer the strongest evidence yet ofa concerted effort by officials in the nation’s largest Catholic diocese toshield abusers from police. The newly released records, which the archdiocesefought for years to keep secret, reveal in church leaders’ own words a desireto keep authorities from discovering that children were being molested.The records contain memos written in 1986 and 1987 by Mahony andCurry, then the archdiocese’s chief advisor on sex abuse cases. In theconfidential letters, Curry proposed strategies to prevent police frominvestigating three priests who had admitted to church officials that they hadabused young boys.Curry suggested to Mahony that they prevent the priests fromseeing therapists who might alert authorities and that they give the priestsout-of-state assignments to avoid criminal investigators. Mahony, who retiredin 2011, has apologized repeatedly for errors in handling abuse allegations.Gomez’s letter detailed changes in the status of Curry and Mahonyin the church.“Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that hewill no longer have any administrative or public duties. Auxiliary BishopThomas Curry has also publicly apologized for his decisions while serving asVicar for Clergy. I have accepted his request to be relieved of hisresponsibility as the Regional Bishop of Santa Barbara,” Gomez wrote in aletter.The records were released hours after a judge signed an orderrequiring the church to do so.In a written order, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge EmilieH. Elias gave the church a Feb. 22 deadline to turn over about 30,000 pages ofinternal memos, psychiatric reports, Vatican correspondence and otherdocuments.“Let’s just get it done,” Elias said in court Thursday.Her order brought to a close five and a half years of legalwrangling and delays and set the stage for a raft of new and almost certainlyembarrassing revelations about the church’s handling of pedophile priests.The files Elias ordered released are the final piece of a landmark2007 settlement between the archdiocese and about 500 people who said clergyabused them. As part of that $660-million settlement, the archdiocese agreed tohand over the personnel files of accused abusers. Victims said the files wouldprovide accountability for church leaders who let pedophiles remain in theministry; law enforcement officials said the records would be importantinvestigative tools.But the release was delayed for years by appeals and thepainstaking process of reading and redacting 89 files, some hundreds of pageslong. A private mediator in 2011 ordered the church to black out the names ofvictims and archdiocese employees not accused of abuse, saying he wanted toavoid “guilt by association.”Earlier this month, at the urging of the Los Angeles Times and theAssociated Press, Elias ordered the names restored, saying the public had aright to know what Mahony and others in charge did about abuse. The churchcomplained about the cost of restoring the redactions and suggested to thejudge earlier this week that generic cover sheets for the files listing topofficials and their dates of service should suffice.After criticism from attorneys for the victims and the media, thechurch abandoned that plan and its lawyers said in court Thursday “anybody in asupervisory role” would be named in the documents. Elias’ order specified thatthe names of the archbishop, the vicar who handled clergy abuse, bishops andthe heads of Catholic treatment centers for pedophiles be included.Here is Gomez’s full letter:My brothers and sisters in Christ,This week we are releasing the files of priests who sexuallyabused children while they were serving in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.These files document abuses that happened decades ago. But thatdoes not make them less serious.I find these files to be brutal and painful reading. The behaviordescribed in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, noexplaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had theduty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed.We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today. We need topray for everyone who has ever been hurt by members of the Church. And we needto continue to support the long and painful process of healing their wounds andrestoring the trust that was broken.I cannot undo the failings of the past that we find in thesepages. Reading these files, reflecting on the wounds that were caused, has beenthe saddest experience I’ve had since becoming your Archbishop in 2011.My predecessor, retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, has expressed hissorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care.Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longerhave any administrative or public duties. Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry hasalso publicly apologized for his decisions while serving as Vicar for Clergy. Ihave accepted his request to be relieved of his responsibility as the RegionalBishop of Santa Barbara.To every victim of child sexual abuse by a member of our Church: Iwant to help you in your healing. I am profoundly sorry for these sins againstyou.To every Catholic in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, I want you toknow: We will continue, as we have for many years now, to immediately reportevery credible allegation of abuse to law enforcement authorities and to removethose credibly accused from ministry. We will continue to work, every day, tomake sure that our children are safe and loved and cared for in our parishes,schools and in every ministry in the Archdiocese.In the weeks ahead, I will address all of these matters in greaterdetail. Today is a time for prayer and reflection and deep compassion for thevictims of child sexual abuse.I entrust all of us and our children and families to the tendercare and protection of our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe and OurLady of the Angels.Sincerely yours in Christ,–  Harriet Ryan, Hector Becerra, Ashley Powers and VictoriaKim