Files: Los Angeles Cardinal Mahoney Hid Child Sex Abuse Cases
STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
It's taken a quarter of a century but Los Angeles residents are learning more about the man who was the face of their city's Catholic Church. The Los Angeles Times released the personnel files of Catholic priests accused of child sex abuse. It is no longer surprising to learn of Catholic priests accused of targeting children, but these documents show more. They show church officials acting to keep the cases private. And many of the documents are addressed to or written by Cardinal Roger Mahoney.
Victoria Kim is one of the reporters of the story for the Los Angeles Times. They were working from documents that emerged in a court proceeding. Welcome to the program.
VICTORIA KIM: Thanks for having me.
INSKEEP: Would you explain to people who are not from Los Angeles who Cardinal Mahoney was up to the time that he retired in 2011? How big a figure was he in Los Angeles?
KIM: He was a significant leader, both in the religious realm and also in civic Los Angeles life. He was very much involved in local politics and also in Sacramento, he was someone who was a spiritual leader and whose name was also mention in connection to the papacy.
http://www.npr.org/2013/01/25/170231454/files-indicate-cardinal-mahoney-hid-child-sex-abuse-cases
And more....
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/22/us/files-show-cardinal-roger-mahony-covered-up-sex-abuse.html