More Questions for US Cardinal in Abuse Cover-up
Irish Examiner
Cardinal Roger Mahony, the former Archbishop of Los Angeles, hit the headlines here when it was claimed he transferred O’Grady from diocese to diocese to mask his abuse of children. O’Grady would eventually serve seven years in a US prison before returning to Ireland. He was sentenced to three years in prison last year when he was caught with a large haul of child pornography. Now Cardinal Mahony is in the headlines once more. Last month, a Los Angeles court ordered hundreds of files detailing the activities of priests accused of sex abuse. The files show the cardinal and other top archdiocese officials manoeuvred behind the scenes to shield accused priests and protect the Church from a growing scandal while keeping parishioners in the dark. Today, as part of a clerical abuse case, he will be questioned under oath about a Mexican priest, Rev Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, who visited his diocese in the late 1980s. He will be asked how he managed the Mexican priest during a nine-month stay during which the alleged abuse of 26 children took place. The Mexican priest, now defrocked, is still on the run. Pressure has been mounting in the US and Italy to keep Cardinal Mahony away from the conclave to elect the next pope due to his role in shielding sexually abusive priests. A poll in influential Italian Catholic affairs magazine Famiglia Cristiana asked readers whether he should be given a vote. Almost all of the 350 participants voted “no”. The cardinal, however, has made clear he will vote. ‘‘Count-down to the papal conclave has begun. Your prayers needed that we elect the best pope for today and tomorrow’s church,’’ he tweeted earlier this week.
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