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	Settlement in L.A.: It's Not Enough Pittsburgh Tribune-Review July 18, 2007 http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/archive/s_517732.html It happened on the eve of a civil trial in which Cardinal Roger Mahony might have been compelled to testify about how he allegedly covered up sexual abuse of children by priests: The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles settled sex abuse claims by 508 victims for $660 million. Previous Los Angeles settlements total $114 million. Cardinal Mahony, who apologized, should emulate the example of Boston's Cardinal Bernard Law. He resigned in late 2002 in the wake of a priest sex scandal. Mahony owes that atonement, a mild one since he will not be held personally accountable by secular authorities. Should Mahony not resign, Pope Benedict XVI must remove him. We are admonished that institutions run by humans will be rocked by human flaws. But the Roman Catholic Church by its own account is singular. It is, the pope asserted recently, the true path toward salvation. Such a declaration should provoke a high degree of public scrutiny and establish the highest level of duty. So, it is intensely heartbreaking that no heavenly or earthly actor prevented some of its ordained servants — even after their proclivities were known — from using innocents as objects of their basest urges. Indeed, the church has reformed. But the Los Angeles tragedy must be a constant warning against those who elevate the institution of the church above the welfare of its members.
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