Latest news with #Mahony
Mint
25-04-2025
- Mint
Who is Roger Mahony? Disgraced US Cardinal convicted for protecting pedophile priests to close Pope Francis' casket
US priest Cardinal Roger Mahony, who was accused of concealing a clerical child sex abuse scandal, was selected to participate in sealing Pope Francis' casket and preparing his burial, according to a New York Post report on Friday. Mahony, 89, who is retired Archbishop of Los Angeles, is amongst the nine cardinals and dozens of other clergymen, selected to play a ceremonial role in closing the late pope's coffin Friday ahead of the pontiff's funeral Saturday morning in St. Peter's Square, the NYP quoted the Vatican as saying. According to the reports, in January 2013, Mahony was stripped of his administrative and public duties. But now he will help oversee the pope's interment at Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major following the funeral, added the NYP. Commenting on the development, member of the Bishop Accountability group, Anne Barrett Doyle said, as NYP quoted, 'Shame on him for participating in the public rite for Pope Francis, and shame on the College of Cardinals for allowing him to do so." However, the Vatican spokesperson said Thursday that Mahony was chosen based on his seniority as a cardinal, justifying his selection. Mahony led the LA archdiocese for 25 years and was relieved of public duties by his successor, Archbishop Jose Gomez, in 2011. He was relieved after thousands of confidential church files showed he worked behind the scenes to shield many pedophile priests and protect the church from scandal. In a statement Thursday night, the diocese told the NYP, "Cardinal has always been in good standing and he no longer had administrative duties as an Archbishop since he was retired." Among Mahony's files, an old case appeared where he kept now-defrocked priest Michael Baker in circulation following the cleric confessed in 1986 to molesting two boys over a nearly seven-year period. After this, Mahony sent the priest for psychological treatment. Baker was advised not to spend time with minors, showed the files. Until 2000, Baker wasn't removed from ministry after serving in nine parishes, despite several documented instances of being alone with boys. He was later convicted of child molestation in 2007. In 2007 only, the archdiocese settled over 500 clergy abuse lawsuits for a record-breaking $660 million. Meanwhile, Mahony has repeatedly apologized for his mishandling and stated at that time Catholic officials did not understand how to handle suspected abuse. First Published: 25 Apr 2025, 10:52 PM IST
Yahoo
25-04-2025
- Yahoo
Anger as US cardinal accused of covering up church abuse given ceremonial honor of closing Pope Francis's coffin
Advocates for victims of church abuse have hit out after it emerged a disgraced U.S. cardinal is to help close and seal Pope Francis' casket ahead of his funeral Saturday. Cardinal Roger Mahony, 89, was selected by the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations to be one of nine clergymen to be present at the ceremonial Rite of Sealing of the Coffin on Friday in St Peter's Basilica. Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, will also oversee the pope's interment at Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major following the service in St. Peter's Square this weekend, the Vatican announced. The cardinal was stripped of his administrative and public duties with immediate effect in January 2013 by his successor, Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez, after he was accused of shielding priests embroiled in a child sex abuse scandal between the 1980s and 1990s to protect the Catholic Church. Making the announcement in 2013, Gomez said Mahony had 'expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care'. However Mahony, who is among the oldest and longest-serving cardinal priests in the College of Cardinals, denied any wrongdoing and weeks after his removal Gomez maintained that he remained a 'priest in good standing' with the Catholic Church. The Los Angeles archdiocese said on Thursday that Gomez's first statement had been "misinterpreted" at the time. "We are blessed to have Cardinal Mahony represent our Archdiocese in Rome for the funeral of our Holy Father," said the statement. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni added that the cardinals involved in the ceremony were determined by their length of tenure. Those supporting the survivors of clergy abuse have criticized the Vatican's decision to select the cardinal for the ceremonial honor. 'Shame on him for participating in the public rites for Pope Francis, and shame on the College of Cardinals for allowing him to do so,' Anne Barrett Doyle of the group Bishop Accountability, which has tracked Catholic clergy abuse for decades, told Reuters. Mahony traveled to the Vatican this week to pay his last respects to the late pontiff, who passed away on Monday, who suffered a stroke and heart failure a day after appearing at Easter Sunday mass in St Peter's Square. The cardinal said that though he didn't know Francis very well before he was elected pope, they had become closer in recent years and would write to each other regularly. 'He encouraged us to write to him,' Mahony told ABC 7 Eyewitness News. 'I have—I don't know the final number—over 30 letters back from the pope, Pope Francis.' In 2013, the release of Church files related to a lawsuit suggested Mahony and another official had shielded several accused priests in the 1980s by sending them for treatment to psychiatrists known as friendly to the Church. Mahony apologized after the release of the files "for my own failure to protect fully the children and youth entrusted into my care." But he said many Catholic officials did not understand how to handle clergy suspected of abuse at the time. The Los Angeles Archdiocese paid over $660 million to settle clergy abuse claims against 508 victims during Mahony's tenure. The LA archdiocese has paid out over $1.5 billion in total to more than 1,300 victims in various settlements.
The Independent
25-04-2025
- The Independent
Anger as US cardinal accused of covering up church abuse given ceremonial honor of closing Pope Francis's coffin
Advocates for victims of church abuse have hit out after it emerged a disgraced U.S. cardinal is to help close and seal Pope Francis' casket ahead of his funeral Saturday. Cardinal Roger Mahony, 89, was selected by the Office for the Liturgical Celebrations to be one of nine clergymen to be present at the ceremonial Rite of Sealing of the Coffin on Friday in St Peter's Basilica. Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, will also oversee the pope's interment at Rome's Basilica of Saint Mary Major following the service in St. Peter's Square this weekend, the Vatican announced. The cardinal was stripped of his administrative and public duties with immediate effect in January 2013 by his successor, Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez, after he was accused of shielding priests embroiled in a child sex abuse scandal between the 1980s and 1990s to protect the Catholic Church. Making the announcement in 2013, Gomez said Mahony had 'expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care'. However Mahony, who is among the oldest and longest-serving cardinal priests in the College of Cardinals, denied any wrongdoing and weeks after his removal Gomez maintained that he remained a 'priest in good standing' with the Catholic Church. The Los Angeles archdiocese said on Thursday that Gomez's first statement had been "misinterpreted" at the time. "We are blessed to have Cardinal Mahony represent our Archdiocese in Rome for the funeral of our Holy Father," said the statement. Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni added that the cardinals involved in the ceremony were determined by their length of tenure. Those supporting the survivors of clergy abuse have criticized the Vatican's decision to select the cardinal for the ceremonial honor. 'Shame on him for participating in the public rites for Pope Francis, and shame on the College of Cardinals for allowing him to do so,' Anne Barrett Doyle of the group Bishop Accountability, which has tracked Catholic clergy abuse for decades, told Reuters. Mahony traveled to the Vatican this week to pay his last respects to the late pontiff, who passed away on Monday, who suffered a stroke and heart failure a day after appearing at Easter Sunday mass in St Peter's Square. The cardinal said that though he didn't know Francis very well before he was elected pope, they had become closer in recent years and would write to each other regularly. 'He encouraged us to write to him,' Mahony told ABC 7 Eyewitness News. 'I have—I don't know the final number—over 30 letters back from the pope, Pope Francis.' In 2013, the release of Church files related to a lawsuit suggested Mahony and another official had shielded several accused priests in the 1980s by sending them for treatment to psychiatrists known as friendly to the Church. Mahony apologized after the release of the files "for my own failure to protect fully the children and youth entrusted into my care." But he said many Catholic officials did not understand how to handle clergy suspected of abuse at the time. The Los Angeles Archdiocese paid over $660 million to settle clergy abuse claims against 508 victims during Mahony's tenure. The LA archdiocese has paid out over $1.5 billion in total to more than 1,300 victims in various settlements.
New York Times
25-04-2025
- New York Times
Cardinal Accused of Hiding Priest Sex Abuse Will Help Close Pope Francis' Casket
An American cardinal who was accused of covering up cases of sexual abuse by priests and was later stripped of some duties, is set to play an official role in the ceremonies surrounding Pope Francis' funeral. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, will participate in the closing of the pope's casket at St. Peter's Basilica on Friday evening and in his burial at the Papal Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore on Saturday, according to Vatican announcements. The cardinals taking part were chosen based on seniority, a spokesman for the Vatican, Matteo Bruni, said at a news briefing on Thursday. Cardinal Mahony, 89, was the archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until his retirement from the Roman Catholic Church in 2011. In 2013, internal church personnel files released as part of a civil case revealed that Cardinal Mahony had played a role in covering up cases of sexual abuse by priests. The documents show that Cardinal Mahony and others worked to protect abusive priests from punishment and withhold evidence of sexual abuse from law enforcement agencies. The Archdiocese of Los Angeles, the largest in the United States, also sent priests who had molested children out of state for treatment, in part because therapists in California were legally obligated to report evidence of child abuse to the police, according to the documents. In 2007, the Los Angeles archdiocese agreed to pay $660 million to settle claims from more than 500 victims, the largest settlement for priest sexual abuse at the time. Last year, the church agreed to pay another $880 million to settle abuse claims from 1,353 people. Advocates for abuse victims assailed the decision to allow Cardinal Mahony to take part in the papal funeral. 'By having Cardinal Mahony ceremonially close Pope Francis's casket, the Catholic Church has chosen to let a known enabler of abuse perform one last act of cover-up,' Peter Isely, a founder of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said in a statement. 'Honoring him in this way makes it clear: Nothing has fundamentally changed under Francis' papacy,' he added. As archbishop, Cardinal Mahony was one of the most powerful men in the American church, known as a savvy politician, a relatively progressive prelate and a champion of Hispanic immigrants. When the church files were released, Cardinal Mahony apologized to victims and said he had been naïve about the effectiveness of 'treatments' for abusers and the impact of the crimes on those they had harmed. 'Given all of the storms that have surrounded me and the Archdiocese of Los Angeles recently, God's grace finally helped me to understand,' he wrote on his personal blog after the files were released. 'I am not being called to serve Jesus in humility. Rather, I am being called to something deeper — to be humiliated, disgraced, and rebuffed by many. I was not ready for this challenge.' Cardinal Mahony's successor, Archbishop José H. Gomez, disciplined him, a highly unusual move for the church at the time. The archdiocese said that Cardinal Mahony had been stripped of his official duties and would no longer speak publicly on behalf of the church, although he was still allowed to celebrate Mass. Weeks after he was disciplined, when Pope Benedict XVI stepped down, Cardinal Mahony traveled to Rome to take part in the selection of the next pontiff, rebuffing calls from victims' rights groups to recuse himself from the election. That conclave selected Francis, who as pope pledged 'zero tolerance' for sexual abusers in the church and took measures to address the issue, although critics argued he did not go far enough. In recent years, Cardinal Mahony has spoken out on political issues. He denounced President Trump's plan for mass deportations of undocumented immigrants and criticized efforts within the church to deny communion to Catholic lawmakers who support abortion rights. Cardinal Mahony cannot participate in the election for Francis' successor, as prelates over the age of 80 are not eligible in the voting.
Indian Express
25-04-2025
- Politics
- Indian Express
US cardinal accused of covering up sex abuse scandal to take part in Pope Francis' funeral, draws criticism
As preparations for Pope Francis' funeral move toward an end, the Vatican's decision to include Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has faced accusations of mishandling sexual abuse cases, in tomorrow's rites has attaracted criticism. Mahony, the former Archbishop of Los Angeles, is among the most senior cardinal priests in the Church by length of service. However, at 89, he no longer holds voting rights in a papal conclave. Yet despite having been publicly sidelined by Church leadership more than a decade ago, he will take a prominent ceremonial role in the funeral proceedings. According to a Vatican spokesperson, Mahony was invited because he was the most senior cardinal priest available, as others in the line of precedence were either ill or unable to attend. Accusations against Mahony As a sign of the Church's ongoing tolerance for those who failed to protect children, Mohony's presence has sparked outrage among survivors of clergy abuse and those who support them. Mahony, who worked in Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011, has long been linked to the concealment of cases of sexual abuse. Internal Church documents from 2013 showed that he and his top aide had protected abusive priests from the police and permitted them to continue serving in the ministry. The response was swift. Mahony's successor in Los Angeles, Archbishop José Gomez, announced in 2013 that Mahony would 'no longer have any administrative or public duties.' Rarely straightforward, the statement was later retracted by the archdiocese, which made it clear that Mahony was still a 'priest in good standing.' Mahony retaliated defensively in a scathing letter to Gomez, asserting that he had established one of the strongest child protection systems in the Church and that the archbishop had never objected to his leadership during their shared years. 'I acknowledge my mistakes, especially in the mid-1980s,' he wrote, 'but I handed over an Archdiocese second to none in protecting children and youth.' The Archdiocese of Los Angeles made the largest settlement in Church history in 2007 when it paid USD 660 million to 508 victims of clergy sexual abuse. More than 1,350 other survivors, many of whom had experienced abuse decades prior, received an additional USD 880 million in compensation last year. Mahony's handling of abuse cases during his previous position as Bishop of Stockton also drew criticism. This is not the first time Mahony's involvement in a moment of papal transition has caused controversy. In 2013, in the days before the conclave that elected Francis, a petition circulated in Los Angeles calling on Mahony to refrain from participating, citing his role in covering up abuse. He attended anyway. That decision, and now his role in Pope Francis' funeral, has revived frustration among survivor groups. Anne Barrett Doyle of Bishop Accountability, a leading watchdog organization, condemned Mahony's participation stating, 'shame on him for participating in the public rites for Pope Francis, and shame on the College of Cardinals for allowing him to do so.' David Clohessy, former executive director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), echoed her outrage saying, 'his presence sends a clear signal to complicit bishops that no matter their failures, they will still be protected and honoured.' Pope Francis' work on addressing sexual abuse Francis himself came into the papacy with a mandate shaped partly by the failures of his predecessors to fully confront the abuse scandal. By the time of his election in 2013, the crisis had spread across continents. Revelations had rocked Ireland, Germany, the United States, and Chile. Public trust in the institution was eroding. Victims and advocates were calling for structural change. Yet in the early years of his pontificate, Francis appeared hesitant to address the issue directly. He rarely mentioned abuse in his first months as pope. When he finally did, he was quick to defend the Church's efforts, insisting in 2014 that 'no one else has done more' to root out the problem. The pope's public defence of Chilean bishop Juan Barros, who was accused of concealing abuse by one of the country's most infamous predator priests, was a turning point in 2018. Francis accused critics of lacking evidence and dismissed the claims as 'slander.' The backlash spread quickly. Francis changed his position in response to international indignation, ordered an internal investigation, and finally expressed regret to survivors by acknowledging that he had 'been part of the problem.' One of his most spectacular actions as pope was calling all Chilean bishops to the Vatican and asking them to resign. It was an extraordinary acknowledgment of systemic failure within the Church's hierarchy. Several resignations were accepted, and survivors were invited to live with the pope at his residence, the Casa Santa Marta. One of those survivors, Juan Carlos Cruz, went on to become an advisor to the pope on abuse prevention. Cruz later said of Francis, 'I think he has done more than any pope has ever done. But I think there is a lot more to be done. What frustrates me is people in the curia and bishops around the world who are not on the same page. What infuriates me is that survivors are walking this earth without justice.' Francis identified the abuse crisis as a symptom of 'clericalism' – the concentration of power in the hands of unaccountable clergy. In 2019, he convened a global summit at the Vatican, where bishops from across the world heard directly from abuse survivors. He subsequently issued new protocols requiring Church leaders to report abuse and cover-ups. He lifted secrecy rules in abuse investigations and updated canon law to reflect that vulnerable adults can also be victims. Laypeople, too, could now be held accountable for abuse-related misconduct. That same year, he acknowledged the abuse of nuns by priests, an issue long suppressed within the Church. Yet even as he instituted reforms, barriers remained. Francis faced persistent resistance from within the Vatican bureaucracy. Some bishops opposed his changes or failed to implement them. Others accused him of acting too slowly. The lawyer Mitchell Garabedian, who has represented hundreds of survivors, said, 'there hasn't been any transparency. Pope Francis said the right things, he meant the right thing, but the bureaucracy just shut him down.' Mahony's role in tomorrow's funeral has become, for many, a stark illustration of that bureaucratic resistance. It sends a message that seniority and tradition still hold more weight than accountability.
