LOS ANGELES (CA)
Los Angeles Times
By Harriet Ryan and Victoria Kim, Los Angeles Times
December 7, 2012, 4:45 p.m.
In its landmark $660-million settlement with victims of sexual abuse five years ago, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles agreed to make public the confidential personnel records of all priests accused of molesting children.
Victims said the release of the files would provide accountability for church leaders who let pedophiles remain in ministry, and law enforcement officials suggested that the documents could lead to criminal cases against those in charge.
After years of delays and legal wrangling, the files are set to become public in coming weeks.
But the documents have been scrubbed of what many regard as the most important information: the identities of the members of the church hierarchy who reshuffled abusers.
The names of the former cardinal, Roger M. Mahony, and the bishops and vicars who handled molestation complaints for him have been redacted by church lawyers at the direction of a retired federal judge managing the files’ release.
In handing down that decision last year, the judge, Dickran Tevrizian, said that the archdiocese had endured enough criticism and that he wanted to prevent the files from being used to “embarrass or to ridicule the Church.” The documents in question include internal memos, Vatican correspondence and psychiatric reports.
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