The Church Rots from the Mitre Down

Los Angeles seems to be devoid of admirable leaders these days. In a region where perception trumps reality, perhaps this should come as no surprise. From location sets to botox injections, this city was built on phoniness, and lately the politicians have illustrated that point.

In truth, Los Angeles has always had its fair share of dubious characters in positions of power. And more often than not these city leaders have been more ambitious than competent. You had District Attorney Gil Garcetti, a man so focused on cultivating his image that he failed to keep his eye on the ball long enough to convict the Mendendez Brothers and OJ Simpson. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo apparently had designs on a future White House run when he formed "Team 1600". After his unauthorised and uninsured wife damaged his city vehicle, Delgadillo demonstrated his "Presidential" judgment by passing the repair bill on to the taxpayers. For some reason Antonio Villaraigosa, the slick, plastic Mayor of Los Angeles, is seen as a rising star in the Democrat Party. Hillary Clinton had even recruited him to co-chair her Presidential Campaign. She may want to reconsider the appointment since the Mayor has created his own vast right wing conspiracy by giving "exclusives" to a Telemundo reporter. The chorus of boos he received at David Beckham's unveiling underscores Villaraigosa's current popularity.

But the most egregious example of the modern day LA figurehead has to be Roger Mahoney. As the leader of the Roman Catholic Church in Los Angeles, Cardinal Mahoney has enjoyed an elevated status in the community. He has always been treated like royalty, highly visible during ceremonial events and immune to any public scrutiny. By virtue of his title, Mahoney assumes an uncommon level of trust and credibility. When he publicly comments on any social issue, Cardinal Mahoney is seen to be speaking on behalf of all Catholics in the Archdiocese. When state laws conflict with Catholic teachings, Church law is controlling.

For more than 20 years as Archbishop of Los Angeles, Roger Mahoney has presided over the coverup of dozens of sexual assaults and violations by members of his clergy. Hundreds of lives have been damaged because several pedophiles were hidden among the ranks of the priesthood. No doubt many of the Church's victims were afraid to come forward, some because they were ashamed and others because they didn't think they'd be believed. As a result, the Church was able to avoid responsibility for far too long. A few years ago, the lid was finally blown off this scandal. The abuse of children and teenagers by Catholic clergy and laity was pervasive througout the world. Many of the victims who had once been isolated by their fear and their shame began to realize that they were not alone in their experiences. They banded together in support groups, realizing that their anger coupled with their newly found numerical strength could force the Catholic Church to face up to its accountability. Unfortunately, in many cases, the Church was less than eager to atone for its sins. Especially Roger Mahoney.

In truth, the sex scandal was an inconvenience to Cardinal Mahoney. A notorious social climber, the Cardinal was too busy putting the finishing touches on his legacy, the brand new downtown cathedral, to be distracted by this trifle. Mahoney handled the fallout from the sex scandal not like a spiritual leader, but like an embattled politician. He created a bunker approach placating his loyalists while isolating his detractors. He spoke publicly in carefully crafted platitudes, creating the impression among his supporters that he was showing enough contrition for his failures and enough willingness to make it right. Once his loyalists were appeased, he could portray himself and his supporters as victims of anti-Catholic bigotry. Any scrutiny of Mahoney or his tactics could be viewed by his apologists as "Catholic bashing". Mahoney kept the media at bay by changing the subject. In performing his media slight-of-hand, Mahoney zeroed in on media pet causes to garner favorable treatment...and, more importantly, to avoid unfavorable treatment. So Mahoney and his followers got out front and center to involve themselves in the anti-war movement and the illegal immigration debate. If the media was spending its time presenting puff pieces on Mahoney's outspoken pro-illegal immigration views, they would have to spend less time looking into the priest sex scandal and Mahoney's involvement therein. In effect, he used other political issues to buy him some time, to get himself some positive coverage and to stifle any negative coverage. Meanwhile, Mahoney and his attorneys began stonewalling the abuse victims who had filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese. In an attempt to avoid releasing priest personnel files sought in discovery motions, Mahoney pulled an especially creative and cynical stunt. He and his attorneys argued that any conversations between a priest and the Cardinal constituted an extension of priest/penitent confidentiality rights. Therefore, in their opinion, Mahoney was under no obligation to provide such information to the plaintiffs. Mahoney and his lawyers pretended to be concerned for the well-being of the molestation victims, instead, they treated the victims with indifference and even hostility. Mahoney kept losing discovery motions in court, only to appeal the decisions. He even went as far as the U.S. Supreme Court when his appeals failed. He lost at the Supreme Court, as well. In the meantime, the clock was ticking on the statute of limitations for some of the cases. If he could drag some of the processes out beyond the statute of limitations, he could make some of the cases simply go away. The $660 million settlement that was reached this week stopped imminent trials from going forward and protected Mahoney from having to testify in court under oath.

Over the years, Roger Mahoney has become part of the furniture in Los Angeles. He is still considered a holy man, but he has embraced the sleazy political world to the extent that he no longer has any moral authority. The Catholic Church has always taught that honoring a moral code is more important than following institutional law. Ironically, Mahoney has repeatedly exploited loopholes in the "inferior" institutional law to avoid honoring the "superior" moral code. Mahoney and Los Angeles were apparently made for each other.