Archbishop Gomez relieves Cardinal Mahony of duties; Bishop Curry steps down

February 01, 2013

Immediately complying with a judge’s order, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles has released the personnel files of 87 clergy accused of sexual abuse and has posted the files online.

Archbishop José Gomez, who has led the archdiocese since 2011, announced that he has relieved his predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, of all administrative and public duties, and that Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry, at one time Cardinal Mahony’s vicar for clergy, has resigned from his duties as a regional auxiliary bishop.

Cardinal Mahony served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until 2011. Until recently, Bishop Curry served as chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Catholic Education.

“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading,” Archbishop Gomez said in a statement. “The behavior described in these files is terribly sad and evil. There is no excuse, no explaining away what happened to these children. The priests involved had the duty to be their spiritual fathers and they failed.”

“We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today,” Archbishop Gomez continued. “We need to pray for everyone who has ever been hurt by members of the Church. And we need to continue to support the long and painful process of healing their wounds and restoring the trust that was broken.”

Twenty or more alleged incidents of abuse took place each year between 1956 and 1988; 30 or more alleged incidents of abuse took place each year between 1967 and 1984; and 40 or more alleged incidents of abuse took place each year between 1973 and 1981.

Archbishop Gomez added:

My predecessor, retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, has expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care. 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.

To every victim of child sexual abuse by a member of our Church: I want to help you in your healing. I am profoundly sorry for these sins against you.

To every Catholic in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, I want you to know: We will continue, as we have for many years now, to immediately report every credible allegation of abuse to law enforcement authorities and to remove those credibly accused from ministry. We will continue to work, every day, to make sure that our children are safe and loved and cared for in our parishes, schools and in every ministry in the Archdiocese.

In the weeks ahead, I will address all of these matters in greater detail. Today is a time for prayer and reflection and deep compassion for the victims of child sexual abuse. I entrust all of us and our children and families to the tender care and protection of our Blessed Mother Mary, Our Lady of Guadalupe and Our Lady of the Angels.

(See Phil Lawler's comment on this news story: “At last an American prelate addresses the real problem in the sex-abuse scandal.”)

 

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Further information:

• Archbishop José H. Gomez issues Statement on the Release of Clergy Files (Archdiocese of Los Angeles)
• Clergy Files Produced by Archdiocese of Los Angeles (Archdiocese of Los Angeles)
• LA archbishop relieves retired cardinal of duties (AP)
• LA archdiocese will not redact Church officials’ names when abuse files are released (CWN, 1/31)
• Cardinal in Los Angeles Is Removed From Duties (New York Times)
• Cardinal Mahony, future bishop discussed ways to shield abusive priests from prosecution (CWN, 1/23)