Addressing the pastoral failure in L.A.

I have been silent on many simmering intra-Church issues because engaging in Church polemics and politics is not the point nor purpose of Καθολικός διάκονος, which is dedicated to the diakonia of koinonia (i.e., the service of communion). I became very enlightened about this during the summer of 2011 when I weighed in on l'affair Corapi. While my two posts on that sad affair remain some of the most popular posts that have appeared on my blog, I don't want to be popular on those terms.

But in light of the revelations out of Los Angeles this week, chronicled by the Los Angeles Times and other sources, that Cardinal Roger Mahony, along with his then-Vicar for Clergy, Bishop Thomas Curry, back in the mid-to-late 1980s (several years before the first round of the child sexual abuse scandals in the Church- which would mark the beginning of what the late Fr. Richard John Neuhaus referred to as the Church's long lent), together conspired, in the words of the Times, "to conceal the molestation of children from law enforcement," it is in the service of communion that I reluctantly weigh in.

The two bishops' conspiring was done with an eye towards protecting several abusive priests. In one memo Bishop Curry even suggested to Mahony, who was the fairly new archbishop of Los Angeles at the time, "strategies to prevent police from investigating three priests who had admitted to church officials that they had abused young boys."

In response to all of this coming to light, the current archbishop of Los Angeles, José Gómez (a priest of Opus Dei), published an open letter (the entire text can be found at the L.A. Times link above). In his letter Archbishop Gómez wrote- "Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties. 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."

On his blog today, Cardinal Mahony posted a letter he wrote to Archbishop Gómez in response. I found this letter to be both disingenuous and disheartening. Cardinal Mahony took no responsibility for his deliberate decision to conceal the molestation of children from law enforcement, thus protecting priests who committed these horrifying offenses, which is the immediate cause of this whole dust-up.

At least for me, this prompts several questions: Does Cardinal Mahony seriously believe he should still have public duties in the archdiocese? Does he think he should be entrusted with administrative, or other responsible ecclesiastical duties? In light of what Archbishop Gómez correctly called "the failings of the past," does His Eminence believe himself to be above public chastisement?

This represents but ONE instance in this whole sickening mess where a bishop has held another bishop to account. So, to Archbishop Gómez, Thank you! In my estimation, Cardinal Mahony could've retained a modicum of dignity had he simply and humbly acknowledged his failings, said he was sorry, and lived in quiet retirement instead of trying to justify his failures and to indict his successor as both unfair and uncharitable. As Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin discovered, if you take on the club you'll pay a price.

Let's not forget that Fridays are days of penance. Perhaps this Lent we should also undertake acts of reparation for sins committed against children by the Church's ministers. Above all we should pray for and, if you know someone who was abused, help those who were the victims of abusive priests. I would also ask for prayers for Cardinal Mahony and Bishop Curry as they are confronted with the consequences of their failure to take steps to safeguard the young people entrusted to their pastoral care.

It was our blessed Lord who said, "For nothing is hidden that will not be made manifest, nor is anything secret that will not be known and come to light" (Luke 8:17-ESV). This is good for each of us to keep in mind. It also serves to remind us of our need to confess our own sins and failings, not only in the Sacrament of Penance, but directly to those we have sinned against. As Dietrich Bonhoeffer sagely observed, "It is not the sins of weakness, but the sins of strength that matter."