Los Angeles Archbishop Kept Altar Boy List From Police

More tawdry facts and more examples of the deliberate obstruction of justice have emerged from a lawsuit against the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and, as is always the case, the Church clerics responsible have yet to be punished or stripped of titles and perks by the Vatican.  If Pope Francis truly wants to change the Church's approach to sexual abuse of children, a good place to start would be to toss Archbishop Roger Mahony out of the Church and deny him a cushy retirement.  Sadly, we should not hold our breath to see any such justice done.  Meanwhile, in settling the last round of lawsuits, the Archdiocese has paid out $740 million in settlements.  Here are some highlights from the Virginian Pilot:

When Los Angeles police were investigating allegations of child abuse by a Roman Catholic priest in 1988, they asked for a list of altar boys at the last parish where the priest worked.

Archbishop Roger Mahony told a subordinate not to give the list, saying he didn't want the boys to be scarred by the investigation and that he felt the altar boys were too old to be potential victims, according to a deposition made public Wednesday.

The detectives investigating allegations against Nicolas Aguilar Rivera, a visiting Mexican priest, ultimately got the names of  the boys from parish families. They determined the priest molested at least 26 boys during his 10 months in Los Angeles, according to the priest's confidential archdiocese file and police records made public by attorneys for the victims.

Twenty-five of the alleged victims were altar boys and the 26th was training with the priest to be one, said Anthony DeMarco, a plaintiff attorney. It's not clear what impact Mahony's action had on the investigation, though at the time police complained that the archdiocese wasn't fully cooperating.

Mahony's deposition was obtained by The Associated Press and is part of the evidence included in a settlement of abuse claims against Aguilar Rivera and four other priests. The archdiocese, the nation's largest, agreed to pay $13 million to 17 victims.

Mahony, who was elevated to cardinal and retired in 2011, maneuvered behind the scenes with his top aide, Monsignor Thomas Curry, to shield molester priests, provide damage control for the church and keep parishioners in the dark.

When the files were released, prosecutors said the cases fell outside the statute of limitations for criminal prosecution of any church officials.

Mahony's sworn testimony in the case of Aguilar Rivera is significant because it's the first time he has been questioned under oath about clergy abuse since the confidential church files were released. During past depositions, attorneys haven't had documents to back up their questions, DeMarco said.  "This time when he's trying to do the `I don't remember' routine, I put the document in front of him and said, `You wrote this, right?'" he said.

Aguilar Rivera was accused in January 1988 by two families who told church officials that he had fondled their children and, in one instance, climbed into bed with a boy after drinking too much during a Christmas celebration at the family's home.

The priest was told about the complaints by Curry and fled to Mexico before police were notified. He remains a fugitive and is believed to be in Mexico.  

Church files released last year show that Mahony ordered Curry to withhold the altar boy list from the LAPD.

There's more in the article on efforts made to obstruct justice and protect predator priests. The take away?  How can anyone moral and decent remain an active Catholic?  The institution's leadership is morally bankrupt.

Deposition Paints Portrait of Catholic Church Cover Ups

I have addressed the issue of the egregious behavior of Cardinal Roger Mahony before - in fact most recently just earlier this week when Mahony had been quoted as saying that he had none nothing for abused boys because they were "illegal aliens." Prosecutors have in the past said that dealing with Mahony was worse than dealing with a crime family boss. Now, a deposition of Mahony in a civil lawsuit has been released and it underscores the mind numbing moral indifference shown by "prices of the church" to the sexual abuse of children and youths. As a parent, I find the moral bankruptcy displayed appalling. All the more so since these men hold themselves out as "men of God." They merely omit that their GOD is power, control and money. The Los Angeles Times reports on the details of the shocking deposition. Here are some highlights:
*
I've said many times that Cardinal Roger Mahony should stop resisting the release of church documents in the sex abuse scandal. But after a Mahony deposition in a molestation case was made public by the courts last week at the request of The Times, I can see why the cardinal has fought to keep things under wraps.
*
Despite reports that Baker continued to have contact with minors in violation of church orders, the archdiocese did nothing to stop the priest, who went on to molest other kids. You can see why this one troubles Mahony. But is he troubled about the suffering of the victims or the reflection on him?
*
Consider this exchange between the cardinal and attorney John Manly, who was representing one of Baker's many victims: Manly: I mean, you would agree with me that the first thing any priest should do … when you learn that a priest has molested a child is call the police, right? Mahony: Not necessarily.
*
It's not a difficult question. A child is abused; that's a crime, so you call the police and rush to the aid of the minor, right? Not Mahony. . . . [H]e didn't call the police and he didn't call the parish where Baker was living to warn of other potential victims. Manly: I take it at that point you instructed your staff to try and find the kids? Mahony: No, I did not.
*
"It's utterly ridiculous for him to say, 'I couldn't find them,' " [Attorney Lynne] Cadigan said of Mahony. "He didn't want to find them." In fact, Cadigan said, the boys' mother worked at the parish where they were molested. Baker knew that, and continued molesting the boys for years, according to Cadigan, in Los Angeles, Mexico and Arizona.
*
[I]s there any reason to believe that without lawsuits, media pressure and the threat of criminal prosecution, there would have been any changes [in the Church]at all? And would there have been the $660-million payout in 2007, when the archdiocese settled 500 cases of clergy sex abuse? As we saw again last week, the cardinal is a man who, even when he admits mistakes, doesn't seem capable of taking full responsibility for the consequences of them.
*
Despite this clear malfeasance - which ought to merit criminal prosecution - mindless Catholics continue to grovel and kiss Mahony's pompous, corrupt ass. And he is only one of a plethora of princes of the Church who acted in similar manners. I literally cannot understand it.

2nd Gay Bishop Elected for Episcopal Church

This development (the new bishop is to the right in the photo) will no doubt cause the knuckle draggers and Neanderthals within the Anglican Communion to go into convulsions and wet themselves. In contrast, I applaud the move of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angles. History is on the side of the progressive denominations who have moved to be LGBT inclusive while the homophobic "conservatives" I suspect will be view much like George Wallace when he stood in the school house door to block black children from entering an all white school. The younger generation is much more gay accepting and a majority support same sex marriage. That tide of history will not be reversed and anti-gay denominations may well be setting the stage for their own long term demise if their bigotry and hypocrisy of selective Bible parsing continues - something that would truly be a case of Divine justice. Here are some highlights from the Los Angeles Times:

*
The Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles today elected the first openly gay bishop since the national church lifted a ban that sought to bar gays and lesbians from the church's highest ordained ministry. Clergy and lay leaders, meeting in Riverside for their annual convention, elected the Rev. Canon Mary D. Glasspool, 55, who has been in a committed relationship with another woman since 1988.
*
Glasspool’s election to fill one of two openings for bishops of the diocese followed the selection Friday of the Rev. Canon Diane Jardine Bruce, 53, the rector of a San Clemente church. The two became the first women elected as bishops of the diocese in its 114-year history.
*
But it was the endorsement of Glasspool that riveted much of the convention as well as the worldwide Anglican Communion, of which the Episcopal Church is the U.S. branch. Glasspool is the first openly gay priest to be elected bishop since the ordination of the Rt. Rev. V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire in 2003.
*
Convention delegates said that Glasspool's sexual orientation was only one factor in their decision, which came on the seventh ballot for the position. They called her a gifted priest with extensive diocesan experience in her current role as canon -- or executive assistant -- to the bishops of the Diocese of Maryland. "I don't think it's a referendum on electing a woman or a gay person," said the Very Rev. Mark Kowalewski, dean of St. John's Cathedral in downtown Los Angeles. "Those are secondary characteristics."

Catholic Hierarchy Disingenuousness

Sometimes I honestly cannot help but wonder whether or not the members of the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy think everyone other than themselves are utter morons or have all recently suffered lobotomies. Do they truly believe that thinking people with IQ's over say even 85 are too dim witted to figure out that the authors of so-called pastoral letters don't mean a damn word they write? Or do they just think we all have the gullibility of a three year old child? A case in point is Cardinal Roger "Lets Protect the Child Molesters" Mahoney of Los Angeles who has floated a "pastoral letter" to gay Catholics in his archdiocese. Mahoney apparently believes that notwithstanding all of the efforts of the Catholic bishops and the Knights of Columbus to secure passage of Proposition 8 that gays are so incredibly stupid that we will believe his false claims that the Roman Catholic Church doesn't really wish us ill. Tell lies about us, malign us, imply we are all child molesters, call us "inherently disordered" or perhaps even call us evil, but deep down we are supposed to believe that the Catholic hierarchy actually care about us. Sorry Cardinal, but we are not as dumb as you think. Here are some highlights of the bullshit shoveled out by Mahomey:

*

As Bishops of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, we are addressing this message first of all to the homosexual members of our Church. Given the controversy generated by the passage of Proposition 8, we want to reassure each of you that you are cherished members of the Catholic Church, and that we value you as equal and active members of the Body of Christ.

*

The passage of Proposition 8 in the State of California does not diminish in any way the importance of you, our homosexual brothers and sisters in the Church. Nor does it lessen your personal dignity and value as full members of the Body of Christ.

*

Proposition 8 was never intended, directly or indirectly, to lessen the value and importance of gay and lesbian persons. Your intrinsic value as human beings and as brothers and sisters continues without change.

*

We welcome thoughtful and civil dialogue with you so that we can deepen our realization that all of us cherish God's creative life which we equally share. We are committed to find ways to eliminate discrimination against homosexual persons, and to help guarantee the basic rights which belong to each of us.

*

As the saying goes, actions speak louder than words and the Roman Catholic Church's actions make it most clear that LGBT individuals are regarded as little better than human garbage by the Church leadership. Talk is cheap and disingenuous lip service doesn't change the true reality of the situation. Why any LGBT individual would remain a Catholic defies (in my view at least) comprehension.