Church Files Shed Light on Response to Abuse Claims

By Tamara Audi, Vauhini Vara and Jim Carlton
Wall Street Journal
February 1, 2013

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323701904578277743922896794.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

The 12,000 pages of personnel files released Thursday night by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles promised to shed light on the church hierarchy's response to decades of sexual-abuse allegations, though plaintiffs' lawyers and others said it could be days before they are able to fully explore the documents.

The documents were released after years of wrangling during which lawyers for the church repeatedly sought permission to redact the names of senior officials before making the papers public. A Los Angeles judge overruled that request and on Thursday ordered the documents released by Feb. 22. They were posted on the archdiocese's website within hours, catching many interested parties by surprise. Victims' lawyers said they were struggling to read through the files and search for new or revealing information.

Nationwide, the church has released thousands of pages of documents over the years relating to abuse, but lawyers and victims' advocates said the Los Angeles documents represent a landmark release, since the archdiocese is the largest in the country. The documents include the personnel records of 124 priests and stretch back decades, cataloguing abuse allegations, correspondence and reactions from high-ranking church officials. The release was part of a $660 million civil settlement with more than 500 abuse victims in 2007.