Catholic religious orders will soon release confidential files about
priests accused of sex abuse who were assigned to work in Los Angeles,
fulfilling part of a settlement agreement with victims.
The files involve orders including the Salesians, Vincentians and
Marianists and will begin to be released in early June.
Los Angeles
County Superior Court Judge Emilie Elias set a September deadline for
the public release of the documents.
Victims’ attorney Raymond Boucher told the judge that most orders came
forward “with a positive attitude,” the Los Angeles Times reports. “We
want to get this behind us,” Boucher said, adding that the first records
release could happen in three weeks.
The files are distinct from those of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles,
which released 12,000 pages of abuse-related documents several months
ago.
On Jan. 31, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez announced that with the release of
personnel files of priests accused decades ago of sexual abuse, his
predecessor, the retired Cardinal Mahony, and his one-time vicar for
clergy, Bishop Thomas Curry, would no longer have official duties in the
archdiocese.
The files showed that in the late 1980s, Cardinal Mahony and Bishop
Curry, who was then vicar of clergy, corresponded often about dealing
with priests who had sexually abused minors. The Los Angeles Times said
the memos show a campaign to hide sex abuse cases from police.
“I find these files to be brutal and painful reading...We need to
acknowledge that terrible failure today. We need to pray for everyone
who has ever been hurt by members of the Church,” Archbishop Gomez said
at the time.
The decision to remove Cardinal Mahoney of his official duties has been
roundly welcomed from local Catholics as well as the Church throughout
America. In a February interview with CNA, Los Angeles-based author and
historian Charles Colombe hailed the archbishop's move as “the best
possible thing he could have done.”