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Friends in Christ,This morning I sent this letter to Archbishop Jose H. Gomez giving the history and context of what we have been through since the mid-1980s. There is nothing confidential in my letter. I have been encouraged by others to publish it, so I am do so on my personal Blog. I hope you find it useful. + + + + +
February 1, 2013 Dear Archbishop Gomez:
In this letter I wish to outline briefly how theArchdiocese of Los Angeles and I responded to the evolving scandal of clergysexual misconduct, especially involving minors.
Nothing in my own background or education equipped me todeal with this grave problem.
In twoyears [1962—1964] spent in graduate school earning a Master’s Degree in SocialWork, no textbook and no lecture ever referred to the sexual abuse ofchildren.
While there was someinformation dealing with child neglect, sexual abuse was never discussed.
Shortly after I was installed on September 5, 1985 I tooksteps to create an Office of the Vicar for the Clergy so that all our effortsin helping our priests could be located in one place.
In the summer of 1986 I invited anattorney-friend from Stockton to address our priests during our annual retreatat St. John’s Seminary on the topic of the sexual abuse of minors.
Towards the end of 1986 work began with theCouncil of Priests to develop policies and procedures to guide all of us indealing with allegations of sexual misconduct.
Those underwent much review across the Archdiocese, and were adopted in1989.
During these intervening years a small number of cases didarise.
I sought advice from severalother Bishops across the country, including Cardinal John O’Connor of New York,Cardinal Joseph Bernardin of Chicago, and then Bishop Adam Maida of Green Bay.
I consulted with our Episcopal Conferencefrequently.
All the advice was to removepriests from active ministry if there was reasonable suspicion that abuse hadoccurred, and then refer them to one of the several residential treatmentcenters across the country for evaluation and recommendation.
This procedure was standard across the country for allArch/Dioceses, for School Districts, for other Churches, and for all YouthOrganizations that dealt with minors.
Wewere never told that, in fact, following these procedures was not effective,and that perpetrators were incapable of being treated in such a way that theycould safely pursue priestly ministry.
During the 1990s our own policies and procedures evolved andbecame more stringent.
We had learnedfrom the mistakes of the 1980s and the new procedures reflected thischange.
In 1994 we became one of thefirst Archdioceses in the world to institute a Sexual Abuse Advisory Board[SAAB] which gave helpful insights and recommendations to the Vicar for theClergy on how to deal with these cases.
Through the help of this Board, we moved towards a “zero tolerance”policy for clergy who had allegations against them which had proven true.
In 2002 we greatly expanded the SAAB group into the newClergy Misconduct Oversight Board.
Theywere instrumental in implementing the
Charterfor the Protection of Children and Youth and served as an invaluable bodyfor me and our Archdiocese.
They dealtwith every case with great care, justice, and concern for our youth.
From 2003 to 2012 the Archdiocese underwent severalCompliance Audits by professional firms retained for this purpose.
Most Auditors were retired FBI agents, andextremely competent.
Every single Auditconcluded that the Archdiocese was in full compliance with the
Charter.When you were formally received as our Archbishop on May 26,2010, you began to become aware of all that had been done here over the yearsfor the protection of children and youth.
You became our official Archbishop on March 1, 2011 and you werepersonally involved with the Compliance Audit of 2012—again, in which we weredeemed to be in full compliance.
Not once over these past years did you ever raise anyquestions about our policies, practices, or procedures in dealing with the problemof clergy sexual misconduct involving minors.
I have stated time and time again that I made mistakes,especially in the mid-1980s.
Iapologized for those mistakes, and committed myself to make certain that theArchdiocese was safe for everyone.
Unfortunately, I cannot return now to the 1980s and reverseactions and decisions made then.
Butwhen I retired as the active Archbishop, I handed over to you an Archdiocesethat was second to none in protecting children and youth.
With every best wish, I am
Sincerely yours in Christ,
His Eminence
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony
Archbishop Emeritus of Los Angeles
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