LA Cardinal Roger Mahony to Help Elect New Pope

By Robert Jablon
Mercury News
February 11, 2013

http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_22565456/la-cardinal-roger-mahony-help-elect-new-pope

Cardinal Roger Mahony will help elect a new pope despite recently being rebuked for not doing more to stop sexual abuse by priests when he led the Los Angeles Archdiocese.

Mahony, 76, made no reference to the scandal when he issued a statement Monday saying he would be among the cardinals who will choose the next pope.

"I look forward to traveling to Rome soon to help thank Pope Benedict XVI for his gifted service to the church, and to participate in the conclave to elect his successor," Mahony said.

Benedict, 85, announced Monday that he will resign on Feb. 28 because of failing health.

Mahony stepped down as head of the Los Angeles Archdiocese in 2011 after reaching retirement age. Long seen as a progressive leader who supported immigrant rights in an area with an enormous Spanish-speaking population, Mahony's reputation was tainted by the abuse scandal that resulted in a record $600 million payout to more than 500 plaintiffs who sued the church over abuse.

Last month, previously secret church files revealed Mahony and other archdiocese leaders had shielded priests suspected of abusing children, kept parishioners in the dark and failed to call police about sex crimes against minors. Mahony's successor, Archbishop Jose Gomez, said he was disgusted by what was in the files and stripped Mahony of his administrative duties in the archdiocese.

Gomez's highly unusual public rebuke led Mahony to issue a response where he acknowledged mistakes and highlighted steps he'd taken to better safeguard children. Mahony earlier apologized for missteps he made in dealing with molester priests during his more than a quarter-century at the helm of the archdiocese.

Joelle Casteix, Western regional director for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, said it's "disturbing" that Mahony will be part of the College of Cardinals that selects the new pope.

"A new pope is only as good as the men who support him and we believe that anyone that Cardinal Mahony would elect as pope would be someone who would continue the cover-up of child sexual abuse," she said.

Messages for archdiocesan spokesman Tod Tamberg seeking comment were not immediately returned

Mahony, who helped elect Benedict in 2005, called him "an extraordinary successor to St. Peter these past eight years."

"His homilies and addresses were so amazing because he was not speaking about Jesus Christ as a topic, but he was speaking about Jesus from a deep and intimate knowledge of Jesus himself," Mahony said. "It was that attraction to the person of Jesus Christ which flowed from all his many teachings for the Church and the world."