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Subscribe to RSSThere still isn't a frontrunner to succeed Pope Benedict, and some are asking that California Cardinal Roger Mahony – who was criticized for his role in shielding abusive priests -- skip the conclave. New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is also attending the conclave, was recently deposed regarding his role in dealing with abusive priests in Wisconsin. NBC's Anne Thompson reports.
Los Angeles' retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, who was rebuked last month for his handling of the sex-abuse crisis, suggests he was "scapegoated" in a blog post ahead of two important dates: his Saturday deposition in a lawsuit alleging that the church hierarchy protected a priest accused of molesting children and his trip to Rome to help pick the next pope.
The high-profile "prince of the church" is at the center of an outcry over several scandal-tainted cardinals being allowed to help choose who will succeed Pope Benedict XVI at next month's conclave at the Vatican.
Ireland's Sean Brady, Belgium's Godfried Danneels and Philadelphia's Justin Rigali have all been pilloried in the Italian press over allegations they failed to protect children from pedophiles -- but it's Mahony who has drawn the most ire.
A group called Catholics United started a petition against his attendance at the conclave. And an Italian consumer group requested Rome prosecutors open a criminal investigation into Mahony if he travels to the Vatican, the news agency ANSA reported Friday.
Improbable as that is, it underscores the outrage in some quarters that cardinals whose reputations have been battered by cover-up allegations will have an equal say in who will next lead the world's 1.3 billion Catholics.
NBC News' Vatican expert, George Weigel, said he could not recall similar calls for abstention at other conclaves, but he noted that voting is an obligation under church law and that other "less-than-admirable" figures have attended for more than a millennium.
"If people are looking for a perfect, sinless electorate to choose religious leadership, they should look somewhere else," Weigel said.
Mahony, who retired as head of the L.A. Archdiocese last year, was stripped of his remaining diocesan duties last month over his handling of priest sex abuse cases. He has repeatedly apologized for past mistakes but isn't bowing to pressure to skip the historic moment. No criminal charges have been filed against him.
He's raising eyebrows and hackles, however, with a series of blog posts about the rebuke.
In one this week, Mahony said he had tried to live out "the acceptance of being scapegoated, pointing out the necessary connection between humiliation and redemption."
Vincenzo Pinto / AFP - Getty Images
After Pope Benedict XVI steps down next week, the cardinals will pick his successor. Some say not everyone deserves a vote.
"This scandal is putting us, the clergy and the church, where we belong -- with the excluded ones," he added. "Jesus was painted with the same brush as the two thieves crucified with him."
The Surviviors Network of those Abused by Priests slammed the language.
"It's hurtful and disingenuous for Mahony to claim he's been scapegoated," said director David Clohessy. "He's been a bishop for almost 40 years and the sole head of America's largest archdiocese for more than a quarter century. Few, if any, U.S. Catholic prelates have been more powerful than Mahony. So for him to somehow pretend to be a powerless pawn is pathetic."
Fueling the latest round of criticism of Mahony is last month's release of reams of confidential personnel files that, according to Reuters, showed Mahony and an aide, Thomas Curry, worked to send priests accused of abuse out of California to shield them from law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s.
In a letter to the archdiocese about the documents and his dismissal, Mahony said that he had worked hard since 1989 to toughen guidelines for handling abuse and apologized for missteps before that.
"I have stated time and time again that I made mistakes, especially in the mid-1980s," he wrote. "I apologized for those mistakes, and committed myself to make certain that the Archdiocese was safe for everyone."
The document release -- part of a $660 million settlement with abuse victims struck in 2007-- has set the stage for this weekend's deposition by Mahony in a lawsuit by a 35-year-old man who says he was molested by a priest in the late 1980s.
The suit alleges that church officials effectively let the Rev. Nicholas Aguilar Rivera escape to Mexico after child sex-abuse complaints were made, the Associated Press reported. He remains a fugitive.
One 1988 memo made public last month revealed a top Mahony lieutenant confided that he told Rivera “it was likely the accusations would be reported to the police and that he was in a good deal of danger."
The plaintiff’s lawyer, Anthony De Marco, will have four hours to question Mahony about Rivera and 25 other priests, attempting to show a pattern of cover-up so he can try to collect punitive damages on behalf of his client.
Then, within days, Mahony will fly to Rome to join 116 other cardinals under the age of 80 who will meet twice a day in the Sistine Chapel to elect the next pontiff.
"Mahony’s bad luck is all of these documents were released right before the pope resigned and this is why people are going after him instead of other people," said Father Thomas Reese, author of "Inside the Vatican: The Politics and Organization of the Catholic Church."
He said there was virtually no chance Mahony would be pressured to stay away.
"The last one turned away from a conclave was in the time of the Napoleon," he said.
"If Mahony can't go, then there's a whole list of other cardinals who maybe can't go, and if you say these guys can't attend for this reason, then what about other reasons."
Even after sidelining him, the L.A. Archdiocese backed Mahony's voyage to Rome. In a statement, it portrayed Catholics United as a fringe group and its petition as pointless.
"Cardinal Mahony will travel to Rome to fulfill his sacred duty under church law to vote for the next pope,” it said.
Cardinal Roger Mahony was stripped of duties last month. NBC's Brian Williams reports.
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Reminds me of Rush L. when he said" boho boho the children want to live, boho bohoo in relation to Sandy Hook
Scapegoat ,,,, nah, Judas Goat is more like it.
what a piece of crap this guy is, there is a speical place in hell for him
Don't count on hell to punish these vile slimebags. Nobody knows this better than the pedophile priests and the criminal cardinals who protect them. Do you think if they really believed in hell, they'd behave this way? Even a merciful god would not be able to forgive this behavior no matter how many Hail Marys they might mutter.
There is no hell, you have to get them now.
Mahoney is no victim. There ARE plenty of victims however due to his deceit .
he should have been stripped of his frock, kicked out of the church and prosecuted for his roll in the largest pedophile ring ever to come to light, I wonder if when they moved a priest and moved the next pedophile in they gave them a list of the "ones" that were already trained.
Why isn't MSN or any of the major news networks not covering the real story, why the Pope is quitting? The Italians have it, it's because of the Vatican Homosexual network. Why do they have that in Italy but not here? Are they all afraid of the church?
Our liberal media elitists are all Catholics, that's why. Chris Matthews, Chris Hayes, Jon Meechum, etc.
I keep waiting for the Jewish elite media to start telling the truth about this.
Where are the elitist atheists anyway? They're never around when you need one.
To your point: We all know that when the Poop says he's quitting "for the good of the church" it has nothing to do with his physical abilities, but his criminal culpibility. No Poop since people started noticing that the Inquisition was a horrible crime has resigned for any reason. This is strictly a matter of getting caught doing something obviously ungodly.
We all know that as much as we've seen of this child molestation and abuse scandal, it's just the tip of the iceberg. Nobody knows this better than Ratzinger who saw every pedophilia case come across his desk before he became the big Poop.
Ratzinger's reward for protecting the church for Poop John Paul was to become the next Poop. Too bad there is no after death "reward" (hell) for Maloney or Ratzinger except that the earth will be rewarded by their absence. May they both meet this reward soon.
he accepted the Position of being a cardinal in as much as one can say its a leading position HE MUST TAKE RESPONSIBILITY for all those under him what a GUTLESS MORON perhaps if you cant take the right position and stand by all those abused then you should resign!!!!
you flagrant azzhole Mohony
Xent, But they think that protecting the Church is what matters. To them, the Church as an institution is more important than the individuals belonging to it. This is true of all institutions, including the family.
The devil does, indeed, wear Prada. As a noncatholic, I've always wondered why the Pope and Cardinals wear all of that getup, and parade around like they are above everybody else in the world, then abuse children, in the nastiest way possible. Why are they above anything? Tax them, and bring them down, then let those who are without sin rebuild on the ashes. Isn't that what religion says to do? Then go after the Scientologist who seperate children from their parents and put them on a ship in the middle of the ocean, and the Mormons who marry their wives little sisters and rape them!!! Seems like hell is definetely on earth for some...while others parade around like they own the body, souls and money, especially money, of everyone else!!! Religion is evil and rife with corruption. Believe that!
Obama for pope he likes winnie washers
This makes no sense. President Obama would never harm children. What's a winnie washer? I think you must be an uneducated philistine.
Knowing what we all now know, if you still support the Catholic Church, you are no better than the Priest who committed the horrendous crimes against the many children who suffered at the hands of their abuse for so many, many years.
Mahony has NEVER has an ounce of compassion in his body, considering the whole child sex abuse! He feels that as long as GOD forgives him, all is right with the world - and he doesn't give a shiit about anyone else! Speaking of which, I hope he dies of the biggest, most MASSIVE heart attack ever known! And I hope he suffers! Yes! I said it! And, if I'm wrong for saying it, I'll have to take it up with God!
As a victim of clergy abuse I can't find it in me to wish him a painful death. But on the other hand a long and painful suffering in the worst prision on earth would be very fitting.
Again the Catholic church has proven that there are only three things that they care about, MONEY POWER and thier REPUTATION. They seek to blame everyone else for the decades of failing to protect the truly innocent children. They have been turning a blind eye and a deaf ear to the cries and screams of tens of thousands children.
If the shoe fits ...
Birds of feather ...
Those who bear false witness ...
Karma, Man, karma ...
The meek (not the abusers) shall inherit the ...
Beware felons in sheep clothing ...
Confession lightens the soul ...
Failing to protect is doing the crime.
Phony Mahony, you should be walked (whipped) out in to the desert, staked by your neck to a heavy post, cry your bleating deceitful excuses to the wind, and watch as the buzzards flock to tear your flesh from bones, saving your eyes for last. Worthless priest in worthless cult created -- and sustained -- purely for control and self-promotion.
Scapegoat? Hmmmmm. I think those were the exact same words that Jerry Sandusky used to describe himself not so long ago....
We have a world court. Why has not the Catholic church and it leadership been charged with crimes against humanity and be exposed like any other organization. If the court find them not guility then so be it. If guilty the same punishment that was used by the Church during the inquisition should be used. Do unto other as they do under to you.
This guy should be more than rebuked. He should be defrocked and sent to prison where he can be on the receiving end of what he thought was such fun to be on the giving end of.
These priests, bishops, cardinals and popes are the worst of the worst because they represent themselves to their flocks as the closest things to gods these people will ever know. In reality they're the closest things to demons anyone will ever meet.
Gee, poor effing cardinal, with all of his opulance and easy life. what a "C"!!!!!
A perfect example of the arrogance of t*rds like him. How many nuns has he porked?
Oh sure. And Hitler was a scapegoat for the Holocaust too.
Anyone who can remain a Catholic after a guy like this has an obligation to vote for the next Pope has got to have a serious case of blinders on, just like people who look the other way to avoid seeing racism, poverty, war, environmental destruction, etc. to preserve their ideology, not their faith. As a marginalized Catholic who took the step of walking away from the institution of the Church, but not the faith, I can say that my faith is stronger than ever because it's not being choked and is free to soar.
Your Excellency: Please, fade away..! Thank you.You are not helping your case by whining/
Poor you!!!!!!!!!! It was bastards like you and bishops that moved priest from parish to parish to cover up their crimes. You belong in jail you POS!!!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps the best cellmate for Mahoney would be Jerry Sandusky.
I was raised Catholic, I believe in God, but sadly, as of a few months ago because of stuff like this, I have no use for the Catholic religion at all or any of its so called "teachings". I hope the new Pope, whomever it will be, brings the Catholic church into the 21st century too and get's rid of its antiquated rules and practices. Priest's should be allowed to marry, and women should be allowed to be Priest's. We are human beings with needs, not God. Maybe that would alleviate some of these type problems. But taking advantage of defenseless children is disgusting though, it should carry the death penalty! We don't need these type of human beings in our society, period.
Is the god you believe in the same one the Catholics do? Because that would defy logic. Or is the god you believe in the one the Lutherans do? Or maybe the Methodists? Or, perhaps the Mormons? Which god do you believe is real? Maybe it's one of the Greek gods, or the Muslim god, or could it be an unknown god yet to be discovered or to reveal itself?
Maybe, like Pete Seeger, you're a Zarathustra booster? Or perhaps you believe in Aphrodite in her see-through nightie? That old time religion, it's good enough for you!
Why isn't reality good enough for people anyway? It's much more awesome and fun to think for yourself, especially with no imaginary fiend listening in to your every private thought.
It gives me the heeby geebies, your religions. It promotes cruelty and perversion.