Retired Cardinal Relieved of Church Duties

By Gillian Flaccus
U-T San Diego
February 1, 2013

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/feb/01/tp-retired-cardinal-relieved-of-church-duties/

Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez announced Thursday night he has relieved retired Cardinal Roger Mahony of his remaining duties and a former top aide to Mahony has stepped down from his post, on the same night the church released thousands of pages of personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse.

“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading,” Gomez said in a statement, referring to the newly released files made public by the church Thursday night hours after a judge’s order. “The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children.”

Gomez announced he has “informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties.”

Mahony, who retired in 2011 after more than a quarter-century at the helm of the archdiocese, has publicly apologized for mistakes he made in dealing with priests who molested children.

Gomez also said Thomas Curry, former vicar of the clergy under Mahony and the cardinal’s point person in dealing with priests accused of molestation, has stepped down from his job as auxiliary bishop for the archdiocese’s Santa Barbara region. Curry had also issued an apology.

Earlier Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias ordered the diocese to turn over some 30,000 pages from the confidential files of priests accused of child molestation without blacking out the names of top church officials responsible for handling priests accused of abuse. The judge gave the archdiocese until Feb. 22 to turn over the files to attorneys for the alleged victims, but they were released almost immediately.

The archdiocese, the nation’s largest, had planned to black out the names of members of the church hierarchy responsible for the priests, and instead provide a cover sheet for each priest’s file, listing the names of top officials who handled that case.

The church reversed course Wednesday after The Associated Press, the Los Angeles Times and plaintiff attorneys objected in court.

A record-breaking $660 million settlement in 2007 with more than 500 alleged victims paved the way for the ultimate disclosure of the tens of thousands of pages, but the archdiocese and individual priests fought to keep them secret for more than five years.

A first round of 14 priest files made public in Los Angeles nearly two weeks ago showed Mahony and other top officials maneuvered behind the scenes to shield molester priests, provide damage control for the church and keep parishioners in the dark about sexual abuse in their parishes.

Those documents, released as part of an unrelated lawsuit, were not redacted and provided a glimpse of what could be contained in the larger release.