LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles Archbishop José Gomez has relieved retired Cardinal Roger Mahony of his remaining duties after the release of personnel files of priests accused of sexual abuse decades ago.
“We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today. We need to pray for everyone who has ever been hurt by members of the Church,” the archbishop said in a Jan. 31 statement.
"And we need to continue to support the long and painful process of healing their wounds and restoring the trust that was broken.”
Archbishop Gomez noted that, “effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony” — who served the archdiocese from 1985 to 2011 — “that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties.”
The statement additionally announced that Bishop Thomas Curry of Santa Barbara has stepped down.
“Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry has also publicly apologized for his decisions while serving as vicar for clergy. I have accepted his request to be relieved of his responsibility as the regional bishop of Santa Barbara.”
“To every victim of child sexual abuse by a member of our Church: I want to help you in your healing. I am profoundly sorry for these sins against you,” the archbishop said.
“We will continue, as we have for many years now, to immediately report every credible allegation of abuse to law enforcement authorities and to remove those credibly accused from ministry.”
On Jan. 21, the Los Angeles Times published a story saying that, 25 years ago, in the late 1980s, archdiocesan officials tried to hide sex-abuse cases from police. The paper's story is based on personnel files dating from 1986 and 1987 that were filed as evidence in pending litigation involving two former priests.
Much of what the Times discussed were memos between Cardinal Mahony and then-Msgr. Curry, who was vicar of clergy at the time. Msgr. Curry was consecrated a bishop in 1994, and, since that time, he had served as one of the auxiliary bishops of the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
In his statement Thursday, Archbishop Gomez confirmed the release of files of priests who sexually abused children while they were serving in the Los Angeles Archdiocese.
Most of the documents have already been made public as part of the “Report to the People of God” created by the archdiocese in 2004. The documents include psychiatric records, investigative reports, letters of complaint and private correspondence, many of which are now 20 years old.
“These files document abuses that happened decades ago. But that does not make them less serious,” Archbishop Gomez said.
“The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil,” he added, “there is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers, and they failed.”
“Reading these files, reflecting on the wounds that were caused, has been the saddest experience I’ve had since becoming your archbishop in 2011,” he wrote.
Archbishop Gomez also announced that, in the weeks ahead, “I will address all of these matters in greater detail. Today is a time for prayer and reflection and deep compassion for the victims of child sexual abuse.”
The 2013 public release of the files of clergy who were subjects of the 2007 global settlement “concludes a sad and shameful chapter in the history of our local Church,” Archbishop Gomez explained upon the release of the personnel files.
The archdiocese is releasing 124 files with names. Of this number, 82 files have information on allegations of childhood sexual abuse, and 42 files have no information on allegations of childhood sexual abuse. However, “proffers” — which are summaries of personnel files that were determined by the court to be complete and accurate — have been provided in those instances.
There are approximately 12,000 pages in the files being released, in compliance with the court orders. According to the archdiocese, “Media reports that there were 30,000 or more pages were inaccurate.”
The archdiocese has made the clergy files publicly available on its website and noted that, “sad and shameful as the past history of sexual abuse is, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles can point to more than a decade of modern child-protection efforts that are among the most effective in the nation at preventing abuse and dealing with allegations of abuse.”
Each one of the 287 parishes and schools has a Safeguard the Children Committee, and all adults who supervise children are required to undergo VIRTUS abuse-prevention training and must submit to background checks and screenings.
Catholic-school students and children in religious-education programs also undergo age-appropriate abuse-prevention instruction.
Priests, deacons, school faculty and administrators and other staff members in parishes and schools are mandated reporters and regularly receive training in how to report suspicions of child abuse or endangerment to civil authorities.
Additionally, the archdiocese continues to reach out to victims of abuse and their families through its Office of Victims Assistance Ministry.
On his Facebook page, Archbishop Gomez wrote late on Thursday: “Friends, today is a time for prayer and reflection and deep compassion for the victims of child sexual abuse. I entrust all of us and our children and families to the tender care and protection of our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of the Angels.”
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Surely, Archbishop Gomez read these files some time ago. Why did he wait to censure Mahoney and Curry until the courts forced the public release of the files? Too little, to late.
Ann, we probably will never know the answer to your question. But it seems reasonable that Abp Gomez was working with the Vatican since a Cardinal was involved. ? ? ?
...........too little, too late.
Surely this is a very sad and painful day for victims/accusers and those accused/perpetrators. Everyone, every Catholic, is a victim, directly or not, because we belong all to the Body of Christ. Prayers for reconciliation, forgiveness, healing and true remorse. God have mercy on us.
And surely the Vatican knew what was in those files (and all the other files around the world). Why have they not acted?
Ann posted on Friday, Feb 1, 2013 3:00 PM (EDT):
“...........too little, too late.”
And so badly timed! “Yes, now that we’re being pressued by public opinion, we will relieve retired Cardinal Roger Mahony of his remaining duties. But if we hadn’t been forced to release the files, we never would have done that. So folks, if you want us to take any action against law-breakers and those protecting law-breakers in the Church hierarchy, you have to beat us in court! Make sure you’ve got lots of money and influence, like us.”
Talk about complete tone-deafness to intimations of hypocricy!
What does “relieved of Duties” means ? Can someone elaborate. Will he be able to celebrate Mass and other sacraments ? What all can he not do ? and what can he do ?
Better late than never…
judge not lest you be judged.
have you walked a mile in the cardinal’s shoes?
have you had access to all of the evidence surrounding the cardinal’s tenure?
it is always sad and horrible when children are subjected to sexual abuse. in fact, it is sad and horrible when children are abused in any manner. it is sad and horrible when any human abuses another human.
what positives are we achieving when we issue epiphets of disgust and judgment against the makers of past irresponsible decisions. would it be more profitable to expend our time and energy on questions like, have the current leaders of the Church taken administrative steps to prevent such irresponsibility from again occurring? and if they have acted, are their actions reasonable and will they be effective?
even more profitable would be to spend our time and energies on identifying current leaders in the world who are currently perpetrating sad and horrible acts against innocent and ever not so innocent people. and after identifying these current leaders allowing sad and horrible acts of abuse, discuss what actions good people should be taking to put an end to current abuses.
at least, that is how i see it. sure we may get some kind of vicarious satisfaction from projecting judgment on members of the catholic hierarchy for their sins, but what does it accomplish other than to waste time that could be better spent identifying and preventing current abuse?
Amen, eddie too! I feel the same way, we aren’t building up the Body of Christ by censuring and “ex cathedra-ing” and prognosticating. We are all sinners and all sin offends God, not one more than another. Evil IS personal, and some have chosen Evil in order to lord it over their peers. In our Church we have a Magisterium which investigates and judges the questions and situations and actions of the Hierarchy. And the actions of the Faithful if that is necessary. Let’s leave the punishing up to the Merciful Arm of God, and let’s pray for our sinful shepherds, which includes all of them, because “all ‘men’ are sinners” (Quoth the Psalmist). Graciously Jesus absolved the Adulteress with 5 Hubbies and one left over! “Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”. Please pray for all our Pastors and that the Holy Spirit fill them with every Holiness and Wisdom and Fear of God!
Because Eddie, it is not a question of “being judged”. It is a question of what the law requires, required, and what was not done. the memos which have been released indicate the Cardinal and the Bishop, in the position of vicar, attempted to “shield” the alledge abusers from law enoforcement and the courts. If you or I did that, how would we"be judged”?
I read Cardinal Mahoney’s blog response today, where he says he wasn’t equipped to handle the issues surrounding the abuse cases presented to him. When I don’t have the skills to properly decide on a solution to a problem, I ASK. Why didn’t Cardinal Mahoney do the same?
Should Archbishop Gomez be cast as the hero? Less than 48 hours ago, his legal team was still working as hard as it could to obstruct justice and hide the names of the guilty. I can’t help but see this as a cynical ploy to cut his losses and pretend he ‘knew nothink!’
Dr. Richard Sipe already identified the problem regarding Archbishop Mahony’s cover-up in 2008. Readers are encouraged to see the details at http://www.richardsipe.com/Forensic/2011-08-08-laconfidential.htm
Thats right forget About that liberal-anti pro life-pro homo sexual-anti Mother Angelica ex-archchbishop, all those hippies will die soon enough and The Lord shall deal with them. Arise March for life generation!
Now that some of the “evidence” has been made public it appears that under Cardinal Mahoney most of the energy was spent in trying to hide information from the police, by sending priests out of State for counselling so that required reporting to the legal authorities would not take place.
From the Archdiocese of LA http://clergyfiles.la-archdiocese.org/listing.html
_________
From the Vatican
“CONSIDERATIONS ON THE DELICTA GRAVIORA” http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20111123_levada-belo-horizonte_en.html
It includes: “The people must know that in the priesthood and in the religious life there is no place for anyone who would do harm to the young”. - Pope John Paul II;
and
” Moreover, the responsibility for ensuring the common good is one of the chief responsibilities of public authorities. The punishment of crimes such as sexual abuse is based on the restoration of justice, and the need to deter others from committing such crimes.
Whether clergy, religious or lay persons in our Church communities, we need to assist the public authorities in their fulfilment of this duty for society.” - Pope John Paul II
and
” “Without prejudice to the sacramental internal forum [the seal of confession], the prescriptions of civil law regarding the reporting of crimes [of sexual abuse] to the designated authority should always be followed.” - Pope Benedict.
Excellent editorial from National Catholic Reporter on the value of truth:
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/editorial-los-angeles-victory-truth
Remember the pronouncement of “Zero Tolerance” from the USCCB years ago ? These two, along with the many other managers of corrupt Diocese should have been defrocked, promptly, according to the Canons. You don’t wait until they are old enough to retire & then let them sit back & be supported by the faithful who detested their every action. This will not go away until all the effeminate ones are purged from our ranks along with those of their ilk that they ordained since Vatican II. Start with stopping the corrupt annual CCHD collection which gathers funds under false pretenses & distributes those millions to Pro-Abortion, Pro-Sodomite Marriage, Pro-Contraception & outright Anti-Catholic Groups.
Why aren’t the actions of these abusing priests and pedophile protecting cardinals & bishops considered “self-excommunication,” just as the sister who had to make the choice to allow the termination of an unviable fetus was considered self-excommunicated? Are we dancing on the head of pins- or propping up the heads of a corrupt hierarchy?
A Cardinal that is guilty of lies, cover-up and hypocrisy… an auxiliary bishop that back him up… priests that are homosexuals… some of them that act on children… alcoholic priests… priests with lovers… priests embezzling some money… nothing new to see… men ARE weak and it is clearly defined in the CCC or if you prefer the Bible re: Genesis Ch.1-4… So what if the Church has men that are sinners? The sin of MAN will never deny the truth of Christ and its ‘faithful’ Church… besides with the eyes of FAITH, just as Christ coming was preceded by the suffering of the innocents (all those children that Herod killed) and the Son of God allowed to suffer and be Crucified… all it shows is that is part of a Plan of God. That these ‘sinners’ (like you and me) were caught, part of the will of God, and now they have to face the ‘blind’ courts and accept the consequences of their actions… sadly in the court of law there is no mercy or compassion… yet that is the plan of God… to the victims I say: you are at a crossroad… either you forgive or you judge and demand justice… and let me remind you that a Christian, one who knows Christ and Christ leaves in him/her… leaves all justice to God… as Christ did… as Mary did… as all the Saints have done… yet if you see yourself without the ‘will’ to forgive, at least acknowledge that you are as much an unchristian as these sinners who were caught in the act. No greater, no less.
Might it be possible that Mahony’s actions and judgment was impaired based on what he believed to be required by the institution.
There is very little doubt, even among most Catholics, that the scale of the sex abuse scandal came about because of directives from the Vatican – specifically from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) – which required all sex abuse complaints to be processed in utter secrecy and withheld from local police and courts, under a Canon Law that was obsolete and ineffective and non-punitive. The only question remaining at this point is “who will be next”?
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