Archbishop Gomez's Rebuke As Phony As Mahony

By Doug McIntyre
LA Daily News
February 2, 2013

http://www.dailynews.com/columnists/ci_22507228/archbishop-gomezs-rebuke-phony-mahony

The headline is a grabber - "Mahony Relieved of Duties."

On the surface it looks like Archbishop Jose H. Gomez has finally put the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on the road to righteousness by censoring his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony.

But when you scratch the headline's surface, you only find more surface.

Sadly, Archbishop Gomez's condemnation of his predecessor is right out of his predecessor's playbook; Do the minimum while pretending to do the maximum.

Granted, a public rebuke of a cardinal by a prelate of a lower rank is exceptionally rare. But equally rare is the depth and breadth of Mahony's complicity in a conspiracy to obstruct justice.

While it's historically significant the church has finally taken official action against the holy man who helped cover up child rape and other crimes against children, it's important to remember this action comes only after the archdiocese had exhausted every other legal option.

Archbishop Jose Gomez could have "relieved" Mahony of his official duties - and there's confusion over exactly what those duties are - on Feb 28th, 2011, his first day on the job.

That was nearly two years ago.

But what did Archbishop Gomez choose to do?

He continued the legal battle to keep the truth about Mahony's involvement in the cover-up secret. He continued to pay lawyers and archdiocese spokesman Tod Tamberg to spin the story, trash accusers and pull out every

stop to keep the public in the dark about the scope and scale of this scandal.

It strains credulity to believe the newly anointed head of America's largest congregation of Catholics would be assigned to Los Angeles without being thoroughly briefed on the mess he was about to inherit. The police may not have had the church's personnel records - and the victims of pedophile priests certainly didn't have them - but Archbishop Gomez did.

But for two years he said almost nothing, took no actions against Mahony or his wingman, Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry of Santa Barbara, and continued to fight the victims and their families in the courtroom.

Archbishop Gomez hasn't claimed the moral high ground; he simply ran out of options. Curry stepped down as regional bishop of Santa Barbara.

From his residence at St. Charles Borromeo parish in North Hollywood, Mahony has responded to Archbishop Gomez's rebuke by claiming, "Nothing in my own background or education equipped me to deal with this grave problem."

I guess he skipped Bible class the day they taught, "Blessed is the child."

It's now up to Archbishop Gomez to prove he has the proper background and equipment to right the dreadful wrongs of his predecessor and actually lead the charge for true justice for the victims by supporting laws revoking statues of limitations on crimes against children.

His actions thus far do not inspire confidence.



Contact: Doug@KABC.com