A Wednesday rant: Cardinal Mahony and protecting the children

Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels.    J. Neil

Anthropologically speaking, there is historical evidence that adults have taken care of their young. We’re supposed to. Our instincts as mothers, fathers, aunts, and uncles compel us to feed a hungry child because the child cannot feed himself. Back when there were cavemen and cavewomen (don’t ask me how I know this), babies and young children may not have received therapeutic counsel for bed-wetting issues or ADHD, but Mom provided a breast full of milk and Dad got the fire going. If a panther tried to creep into the cave at night and eat the baby, you can bet the animal ended up as breakfast the next morning, thanks to the tools Mr. Caveman crafted for just such an encounter. It was instinct to protect the baby. The baby could not protect itself.

Oh, those were the days. Many years later (say a million or so), adults find themselves needing to protect the children from so much more: cyber predators, trans-fat, a busted school system, Catholic priests.

Whether you are Catholic or not, chances are you’ve heard of Cardinal Roger Mahoney, head of the Los Angeles Diocese. Yes, he’s still the cardinal. Grand jury investigations be damned. So he re-located a few priests who had molested some kids, who then went on to molest more kids at a new parish – so what? Yes, the Catholic Church has doled out millions in settlements to these victims. Yes, Cardinal Mahony has tried to keep more documents out of more public hands than Dick Cheney. Big deal. Okay, so he has a bad memory. Quick – who won Best Actress in last year’s Oscar race? What did you have for lunch last Thursday? It’s hard remembering pesky details, especially the ones about the panther that crept into the cave that night.

“It was dark,” the caveman said, leaning on his club and adjusting his loincloth. “I was too tired to maim the beast, so I just shooed it away with rocks from my pillow.”

The next evening, the cat ate his brother’s son in the next cave over.

“You didn’t do your job!” the brother admonished, and the cowardly caveman was eternally banished from his family for essentially “passing the buck.” Who knows? Maybe his brother killed him and had him for dinner. Either way, there were serious consequences and no one had a lawyer.

Mike Duvall is worth mentioning for the second time in three days because he actually did something vaguely noble. He resigned. Why? Because he was caught red-handed and realized that trying to continue representing his constituents in Yorba Linda was futile. They’re grateful for the gesture. Oh, and he bragged about sex with grown women and not young children, thereby earning a Wednesday Brownie point that will not be bestowed on Cardinal Mahoney.

The Archbishop is once again in the news (he’s rarely out of it) because a former vicar in Mahony’s circle, Msgr. Richard Loomis, decided to step up recently. The Associated Press reported over the weekend that someone (Loomis) finally, finally testified to the Cardinal’s misdeeds, leaving little room for doubt. Of course, just as quickly, it has been reported (by the L.A. Times Steve Lopez today) that Loomis may have ulterior motives. Okay, but the further that previous testimony and litigation are examined, the more difficult it becomes to believe that Roger Mahony should remain in his job.

I was raised Catholic and attended parochial schools for 12 years. Through my religious education growing up, I was taught (when I wasn’t putting Kleenex on my head because I forgot to bring my beanie to mass) about a greater love and about “doing unto others”. We can certainly learn this through a secular education, but it carried ominous weight for me when delivered in the context of the "big picture", in the framework of God. I turned my back on the Catholic Church for personal reasons that accumulated over the years and the most recent of these excuses was the head of our Archdiocese. He’s an adult who oversees the largest Catholic community in the United States – a man required by a higher power and by human nature to protect the innocent and be an advocate for children. Tell the victims of Michael Wempe and Michael Baker that the man did his job well. They would surely disagree.

One of the lesser-known commandments that was etched in the tablets brought down the mountain by Moses was “Though shalt not ramble”. Forgive me Father, for I have sinned once more – but I’m angry. The Episcopal Church that I now attend fills the void that was left when I stopped attending Catholic mass. More than that, it provides a spiritual home where anyone can worship. I must admit, however, that I will always consider myself, deep down, a Catholic and I miss much about my former religion. Certainly, there must be hundreds, perhaps thousands of Los Angelenos just like me. But it’s difficult to reconcile with a diocese led by a man who knows he played a role in allowing children to be sexually abused by the priests in whom they put their trust. Sure, he fired some bad apples, but not all of them and there are grown men (and a few women) who now suffer the consequences. Cardinal Mahony needs to fess up and then resign and let these people begin or continue their healing. Check out the Los Angeles Diocese website and click on Annual Report (page 26 and page 31:Note 13, specifically) to get a quantifiable idea of the damage that has occurred.

“Thou shalt not ramble.” I apologize once again and will ask forgiveness – as soon as Cardinal Mahony does the right thing.

My rant has been completed, for now.

For more info: Read Jeffrey Anderson's 2004 LA Weekly article for some history behind this scandal.  There's a lot of it.