The Los Angeles
Catholic Diocese must release the names of priests and church officials
contained in confidential records about sexual abuse of children, a California
judge ordered Monday.
Superior Court
Judge Emilie Elias reversed a previous ruling by another judge that allowed the
Archdiocese of Los Angeles to black out the identities of church officials in
30,000 pages of documents that are to be released, the Los Angeles Times
reports. The files include medical and psychiatric records, abuse reports,
church memos and letters with the Vatican.
Negotiations on
releasing the records are part of the landmark $660 million settlement in 2007
over priest abuse. The diocese had redacted names -- including that of retired
cardinal Roger Mahony -- and the release was expected by mid-January. It's not
yet clear whether Monday’s ruling will delay the release of the
records.
More than 20
priests have exhausted appeals to prevent the release, arguing it would violate
their privacy rights.
Last year,
retired federal judge Dickran Tevrizian allowed the archdiocese to redact the
names of church rulers who reassigned abusive priests, along with the names of
priests accused only once of abuse. He cited criticism the church had suffered
already and said he wanted to prevent the use of un-redacted files from being
used to "embarrass or to ridicule the Church."
"You know that
the Church recycles priests. Now you want to know who in the clergy is recycled.
For what useful purpose? The case is settled," Tevrizian told lawyers for 562
people who settled sex-abuse claims.
The Los Angeles
Times and the Associated Press challenged Tevrizian's ruling, and Elias has the
final say.
"Don't you think
the public has a right to know … what was going on in their own church?" Elias
asked during a hearing about releasing the information. She added that
parishioners "may want to talk to their adult children" about abuse alleged in
their local church. USA Today
FACTS & FIGURES
The Catholic
Church has been rocked in recent decades by accusations that it tried to cover
up the sexual abuse of children by priests and has paid out billions in
settlements to abuse victims, bankrupting several U.S. dioceses. Daily
Star
Sexual abuse of
children by Catholic priests has been widely reported throughout the world, with
the countries of Canada, Ireland, United States, United Kingdom, Mexico,
Belgium, France, Germany and Australia receiving the most attention. The United
States and Ireland are the only countries that conducted nationwide inquiries.
digitaljournal.com
In the U.S.,
Ireland, the Channel Islands, the list seems to go on and on -- new sordid
stories of child sexual abuse are being investigated, at times, linking to a
disturbing hierarchy of silence in institutions which were considered "sacred,"
-- be it the Catholic Church, the BBC or even Penn State football. The
Huffington Post
The majority of
the sexual abuse by Catholic priests takes place with children between the ages
of 11 and 14.