Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony approved a record clergy abuse payout, opened the files of the Roman Catholic priests involved and looked into the cameras and apologized last week for the victims' treatment. And it still might not be enough to satisfy some.
To fund the archdiocese's share of the US$660 million settlement, the cardinal will have to sell property, liquidate investments and cut spending, dismantling part of what he built in more than two decades as the city's archbishop.
Even so, critics questioned whether the cardinal should have done more to rein in predatory priests in the largest US archdiocese. Bishops answer only to the Vatican, which had to sign off on some funding of the settlement, but every church leader needs the trust of the parishioners.
"He acknowledged he made some mistakes, he apologized," said the Reverend Thomas Reese, a fellow at the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. "Now the people of Los Angeles are going to have to weigh the good that he's done over the last 22 years versus the bad things he did and decide whether they can continue to accept him as their bishop."
Last week's deal was made on the eve of a civil trial in which Mahony would have been grilled about why he left some abusive priests in churches without telling parents or police.
As part of the settlement, the archdiocese agreed to release the personnel files of accused clergymen, which could reveal any direct links between Mahony and the guilty priests he supervised. But each priest tied to the 508 Los Angeles cases can challenge his records' release -- another potential obstacle to full disclosure.
Mahony, 71, has acknowledged the suffering of victims. He was among only a handful of bishops who revealed names of suspected clergy so the public could be protected from them.
At the same time, his lawyers fought disclosure of priests' files to prosecutors all the way to the US Supreme Court. They also challenged California's one-year window that allowed abuse claims to be filed no matter how far back they dated. None of the maneuvers succeeded, but they contributed to delays in reaching a settlement, which took four years to negotiate.
Leon Panetta, a member of the original National Review Board, the lay watchdog panel bishops created to monitor their child protection reforms, said Mahony appeared to be "captured by his lawyers." Panetta recalled a board meeting with Mahony a few years ago where the cardinal was accompanied by his lawyers.
"There were more lawyers in the room than I'd ever seen," said Panetta, who served as chief of staff to president Bill Clinton. "They were basically digging in, and as lawyers tend to do, basically saying, `We're not going to cooperate. We're going to fight this out, we're not going to admit to anything and we're going to exhaust the legal process to the fullest.'"
Mahony was sincerely concerned about victims, but went on to let his lawyers "drag it out," Panetta said. "I think that is the mistake the cardinal made. They played for time. In the end they arrived at a settlement, but I think it's done tremendous damage to his reputation and the archdiocese."
However, attorney Pamela Hayes, a New York litigator who served on the board with Panetta, said Mahony had a dual role as pastoral leader of the archdiocese, with financial obligations that go beyond the victims.
"This should have happened sooner rather than later, but they were doing what most defendants do. They fought back," Hayes said. "It might not sound nice, but do you know any multibillion-dollar organization that is going to fork out millions of dollars to people who say they were molested without any proof?"
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across