L.A. Law

Cardinal Bernard Law, former Archbishop of Boston, was ultimately forced to resign his post following damning evidence that he had failed to deal adequately with priests who had sexually abused minors. First the conviction of Father John Geoghan in January of 2002 and then the release in April of the same year of the sordid record of the notorious abuser Father Paul Shanley set in motion the events that finally led to Law's resignation.

Cardinal Mahony could well be following in the footsteps of the disgraced Boston prelate if clergy abuse trials begin and/or priest abusers' files are finally made public. It has been said, "When Los Angeles bursts, it will make Boston look like an altar boy picnic."

THE LOS ANGELES TIMES reports ...

Lawyers asked a judge Friday to order nine clergy-abuse cases against the Los Angeles Archdiocese to trial within the next nine months.

Attorneys for Cardinal Roger M. Mahony and for their opponents, who represent more than 560 people suing the archdiocese for allegedly failing to protect them from predatory priests, teamed in the request, saying efforts to settle the lawsuits had stalled.

For 2½ years, Mahony has fought turning over the files to Los Angeles County prosecutors. And individual priests recently won a court victory barring the archdiocese from releasing its summaries of the files.

If the cases are set for trial, plaintiffs' attorneys will begin discovery by issuing subpoenas for the files and by questioning church officials under oath. Attorneys for the archdiocese, in turn, will interview alleged victims and further investigate their claims.

Boucher asked the court to allow him to begin discovery on 25 cases that he and Hennigan would hand-pick. Of those, nine would be selected for trial.

Click HERE for my recent post, Mahony's XXX files. For another related post, go HERE.