Local Stories by Local People
updated: Feb 01, 2013, 7:19 PM

The former Archbishop of Los Angeles and regional bishop of Santa Barbara have been removed from their duties following the release of clergy sex abuse files Thursday.

Comments in order of when they were received | (reverse order)

COMMENT 370087P	2013-02-01 07:43 PM
Well that's a relief. Those guys were responsible for hurting a lot of young men.
COMMENT 370096	2013-02-01 07:56 PM
LA Times: "Files detail cases in which L.A. Archdiocese officials displayed outrage over a priest's violation of canon law while doing little about his sexual abuse." This speaks volumes about the entire culture and that demoting two people isn't going to change much. Nuns should be running the Vatican.
COMMENT 370111	2013-02-01 08:36 PM
New York Times: "A sampling of the 12,000 pages suggests that Cardinal Mahony and other top church officials dealt with the accusations of abuse regularly and intimately throughout the last several decades. It often took years to even reach the realization that a priest could no longer simply be sent to a rehabilitation center and instead must be removed from ministry or even defrocked. In one case, the Rev. José I. Ugarte was accused by a doctor of having drugged and raped a young boy in a hotel in Ensenada and of taking boys every weekend to a cabin in Big Bear. But rather than turn Father Ugarte over to the authorities, Cardinal Mahony decided to send him back to Spain, made him sign a document promising not to return to the United States without permission for seven years, not to celebrate Mass in public and to seek employment in “a secular occupation in order to become self-supporting.”
COMMENT 370139P	2013-02-02 01:47 AM
Guess they couldn't take the pressure anymore. It only took how many years?!?!!! So so sad. Not sad, simply sick & rotten. I'm glad to see it happen, though it should have many years ago. As should criminal prosecution have occurred!! I won't say what I'm thinking. Rottenness all around.
COMMENT 370144P	2013-02-02 04:40 AM
Two small steps in the right direction, finally. I just hope they are not just token removals to appease but the beginning of a major house cleaning.
COMMENT 370145	2013-02-02 06:11 AM
"Both Mahony and Curry have publicly apologized in the last two weeks." So they apologized AFTER THEY GOT CAUGHT. Disgusting. This scandal obviously goes all the way to the top of the Roman Catholic church. Some of the highest officials in the nation have been found to be directly involved in covering up the molestation of children for decades. How can anyone continue to support this group? If there is a Hell, they're going to burn in it. Don't go down with them.
COMMENT 370153	2013-02-02 07:12 AM
Too little; too late. Mahoney should be in jail.
COMMENT 370165	2013-02-02 07:35 AM
Nuns, indeed. Just go onto cl and see just how perverted men are. Who can you trust?
COMMENT 370167	2013-02-02 07:38 AM
The acts and the cover-up are criminality at its' worst. These people should not be free to walk the streets. An apology is hardly enough.
FLICKA	2013-02-02 07:39 AM
Protecting priests instead of children, they are criminals. Actually, it wasn't the priests, they were protecting the reputation on their church. I grew up Catholic, 12 yrs of Catholic school. The behavior of these (supposed to be) "holy men" makes me want to see them beaten with a club!!!
COMMENT 370170	2013-02-02 07:42 AM
Ireland had a big shake up too, organized religion not about God all about what man thinks about God..................
COMMENT 370190	2013-02-02 08:59 AM
Lets all pray that they ALL GO TO JAIL !! for a very long time! Any crimes against children can not go un punished. If they abused or failed to notify abuse to the police, they ARE criminals and deserve to be in jail for a very long time. Then their god can decide where they go to from there.
COMMENT 370192	2013-02-02 09:09 AM
How are there not hundreds of Priests going to Jail!!!! Step in the right direction but too small. SEND THEM TO JAIL!!!!!
COMMENT 370194	2013-02-02 09:14 AM
Not only is there a comparable scandal in Ireland but the local scandals in California have provided glimpses into far far more egregious abuse in Latin American countries. It's the whole organization -- not a few, but a whole culture that either did it, condoned it, or allowed it to happen.
COMMENT 370207	2013-02-02 10:12 AM
Maybe it's time for confession.
COMMENT 370216	2013-02-02 10:33 AM
Curry confirmed me! Now I feel sorto dirty
COMMENT 370227P	2013-02-02 11:23 AM
I wrote them and their church organization off as rotten from top to bottom when Cardinal Lay (from Boston) who hid child molesters for years was given a top position at the Vatican. So sad for the faithful who got conned by these men.
COMMENT 370240P	2013-02-02 12:24 PM
Priests, coaches and scout leaders. Men -- corrupted by power -- who believe they're entitled to control and abuse others for their own personal gain.
SHOREBIRD	2013-02-02 12:53 PM
They should be "removed from" their freedom as well. They are conspiracy perps.
YIN YANG	2013-02-02 01:29 PM
How convenient that their crimes are probably now misdemeanors and the church is "apologizing"....
COMMENT 370268P	2013-02-02 02:06 PM
Now lets demand files on all of the other institutionalized bastions of sexual abuse eg US military
COMMENT 370280P	2013-02-02 02:54 PM
the churches owe us all a lot in unpaid back taxes.
COMMENT 370281	2013-02-02 02:57 PM
I agree, 268P. The more of this that's out in the open, the better we'll all be for it.
COMMENT 370288	2013-02-02 03:16 PM
What amazes me is, an archbishop can bust a cardinal!
COMMENT 370305P	2013-02-02 04:05 PM
The sooner folks stop believing in these fairytales, the better off our world will be...IMO.
COMMENT 370318P	2013-02-02 04:33 PM
A high school principal was recently charged with the crime of not reporting that he had learned of a 17-year-old girl having sex with another student. If that is a crime, why aren't these priests prosecuted for the same crime if they knew of other priests that sexually molested boys but failed to report it to the civil authorities? Is it because the law only applies when a female is the alleged "victim"?
COMMENT 370342	2013-02-02 06:00 PM
Clearly, either God doesn't exist or the Catholic Church is not his representative.
COMMENT 370392P	2013-02-02 10:17 PM
human mistakes human institutions. horrible. tragedies. there's been pain and corruption, but there's been good through the catholic church also. nothing is perfect.
COMMENT 370421	2013-02-03 07:35 AM
370, no amount of good excuses the evil they've perpetrated. That evil is part of the culture of the church's administration. They shelter and protect evil and denounce those harmed by that evil. Continuing to support the Roman Catholic Church means supporting that evil. There are plenty of religious organizations that do not protect child molesters. Support them instead.
COMMENT 370436	2013-02-03 08:18 AM
Tear down all 21 missions brick by brick..
COMMENT 370499	2013-02-03 02:14 PM
@342 wow, you've given us the first quotable quote of 2013. @436 agreed. The missions are constant reminders of oppression, land and resource theft, and genocide.
ELAZ	2013-02-03 03:44 PM
Couldn't agree more with... "How are there not hundreds of Priests going to Jail!!!! Step in the right direction but too small. SEND THEM TO JAIL!!!!!"
COMMENT 370522	2013-02-03 04:01 PM
The time has come for those involved in this cover up to take responsibility for their actions. For attempting to diffuse the seriousness of these criminal acts against our children and for being the hunter's - the predator's advocate, while knowingly sacrificing his helpless and vulnerable prey. Apologies are hollow. They are meaningless coming Curry, who would have happily carried on rubbing shoulders with trusting members of this community, schools and church for decades, if his hypocrisy not been discovered. Ireland had the courage to speak up for their children and put their safety before supporting a flawed clergy. I hope we have the strength to do the same.
COMMENT 370569P	2013-02-03 08:38 PM
436: We don't need to tear down the SB Mission brick by brick. The way it has been so badly mismanaged in recent years, the Franciscans are doing a pretty good job of destroying it themselves.

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