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	Los Angeles Chancery on Sale to Fund Abuse Payments Catholic World News May 16, 2007 http://www.cwnews.com/news/viewstory.cfm?recnum=51177 Los Angeles, May. 16, 2007 - The Los Angeles archdiocese, which has already paid out $40 million in sex-abuse damages, faces more than 500 remaining claims. The archdiocese has fought a protracted legal battle in the abuse cases, which could eventually produce settlements amounting to over $500 million. Cardinal Mahony announced his plan to sell the archdiocesan chancery on the same day that a separate report showed a Mexican prelate questioning why Cardinal Mahony allowed an accused priest to serve in Los Angeles. The McClatchy Newspapers reported that in a March 26 court filing, Cardinal Norberto Rivera of Mexico City said that he had implicity warned his American colleague about Father Nicolas Aguilar, who had sought an assignment in Los Angeles after charges of sexual misconduct drove him out of Mexico. In a report on the priest, Cardinal Rivera said that "family and health reasons" had caused Aguilar's departure. That deliberately vague language was intended to provoke questions, he said. "I anticipated that Cardinal Mahony would request a more detailed account of Father Aguilar's history and problems," the Mexican prelate testified. The Los Angeles archdiocese maintains that Cardinal Mahony never received the letter from Cardinal Rivera. Aguilar, who is now wanted by American prosecutors on rape charges, has fled the country; his current whereabouts are unknown. Cardinals Mahony and Rivera are both named as defendants in a California lawsuit brought by plaintiffs who say that the prelates engaged in an international conspiracy to shield the fugitive priest from the law.
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