Posted on 05/16/2002 9:02:25 AM PDT by NYer
LOS ANGELES, May 16 — Cardinal Roger Mahony, head of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, has apologized for transferring a Roman Catholic priest from church to church despite an alleged confession from the man that he had molested children for years. The apology is the latest development in the sexual abuse scandal that has roiled the Roman Catholic Church.
EARLIER THIS week, Mahony faxed a two-page letter to 1,200 priests in the archdiocese, acknowledging that he mishandled the case of the Rev. Michael Baker.
“As your archbishop, I assume full responsibility for allowing Baker to remain in any type of ministry during the 1990s,” Mahony wrote. “I offer my sincere, personal apologies for my failure to take firm and decisive action much earlier.”
Baker, 54, is one of several former priests being investigated by police. He allegedly molested at least nine youths beginning in 1976, according to Los Angeles Times interviews with victims, relatives and lawyers. Baker told the newspaper that in December 1986 he met with Mahony and told of his sexual misconduct with children. He claims that Mahony did not ask for specifics and appeared willing to let him remain in the priesthood.
“I told Mahony I had a problem,” Baker said. “He was very solicitous and understanding. I was glad I brought it up.” Baker continued to have access to children over the next 14 years while he was assigned to nine different parishes around the Los Angeles area, the newspaper said. Baker was asked to quietly retire in late 2000. Two men who claim they were sexually abused as children by Baker from 1984 to 1999 later agreed to a $1.3 million settlement with the archdiocese. They claim Baker often had them sleep in the rectory where he molested them.
Mahony said Baker did receive treatment and counseling, but it was “decided that he could do specialized priestly ministry not related to children and youth.” Despite that recommendation, it appears that Baker continued to interact with children until he left the church.
Mahony told the Times last month that there were few solutions in dealing with Baker in 1986 because the allegations were never proven. “Our biggest problem was that ... he wasn’t found guilty of a criminal act,” Mahony said. “That’s a big problem.”
(That metaphor was WAY overdone)
Cardinal Mahony is as fake as a Hollywood set. His blind ambition to be the first American Pope is disgusting, and he is as guilty, guilty, guilty as sin.
< / rant >
Cardinal Mahoney is the Hillary Clinton of the Catholic Church. Not a word he says hasn't been vetted by a public relations firm; not a word he ways is sincere. Finally, like Hillary, he believes that constantly stating lies about his involvement in a horrific crisis will make the public forget about the truth. Cardinal Mahoney has been a very, very good friend of many homosexual molesters in the Church (a number of whom stayed at his place of residence over many years). You can be assured that whatever he is saying to the public at any time is total baloney.
Shades of Janet Reno. As I recall, she too stood up and took "full responsibility" for frying all those children at Waco. But what did taking responsibility mean, in the end? Nothing. She did nothing. She suffered no consequences. She went on doing similar things for many more years.
She should have resigned, and so should Cardinal Mahoney, who is, indeed, one of the worst prelates in the Catholic Church.
And they both treat their consituencies as if they were idiots.
In case you haven't already seen the architect's rendering of the inside of the new cathedral, I can assure you, it is as ugly as the outside. Very modern and stark design.
If you want to see some ornate Catholic church-work, stop by the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, DC some time. Don't miss the basement, with lots of altars, each to a different saint.
As if that weren't enough... Has the shooting of an accused homosexual priest grabbed enough of the attention of the bishops and cardinals?
It just gets down to whether she looks more like a lesbian than he does a homo...or the other way around.
It's so exquisitely offensive. Again, the welfare of children comes last...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.