Cardinal Roger M. Mahony responded Friday to Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez’s decision to relieve him of all public duties over his mishandling of clergy sex abuse of children, saying he did all he could to protect children.
Mahony posted the letter, addressed to Gomez, on his blog Friday afternoon. In the letter, he outlined the steps his administration had taken to address the priest abuse scandal and to create policies to prevent further such abuse.
Addressing Gomez, Mahony wrote: “When you were formally received as our archbishop on May 26, 2010, you began to become aware of all that had been done here over the years for the protection of children and youth. You became our official archbishop on March 1, 2011 and you were personally involved with the compliance audit of 2012 — again, in which we were deemed to be in full compliance.
“Not once over these past years did you ever raise any questions about our policies, practices, or procedures in dealing with the problem of clergy sexual misconduct involving minors,” Mahony added.
While the censure of a retired Cardinal is somewhat unprecedented, it’s still not much of a punishment. Mahony seems to be having a Todd Akin moment here, trying to explain himself and not helping anything at all. Archbishop Gomez clearly wants to leave any doubt where things stand now that he is in charge.
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