November 18, 2005

Lessons of a seminary

CALIFORNIA
Long Beach Press-Telegram

The California Supreme Court has settled the matter of whether Cardinal Richard Mahony should give prosecutors the files of two former priests accused of molesting children. Lesson learned, or so you might think.

Think again. The church has said its lawyers will review their case, although so far it has gone absolutely nowhere, and the lawyer for the two priests says he might appeal further to the U.S. Supreme Court. The most credible response comes from the district attorney, Steve Cooley, who says he expects to get the files he subpoenaed immediately.

The D.A.'s office further expects that the court's ruling also means prosecutors finally would get their hands on the archdiocese's secret files of more than 200 priests who are the targets of 560 legal claims alleging one kind of sexual abuse or another.

Even as the fight between churchmen and prosecutors plods on, further installments of this sad story unfold. The L.A. Times revealed Thursday that St. John's Seminary, which for 66 years has supplied priests for the archdiocese and other dioceses and is the alma mater of the cardinal himself, has a list of horrors among its priestly alumni.

Posted by kshaw at November 18, 2005 08:26 AM