Archdiocese disputes L.A. Times story

The Archdiocese of Los Angeles yesterday released a statement (click on this post's title) that disputes the Tuesday L.A. Times story on Cardinal Mahony's role in the Caffoe case.

The statement says the Archdiocese's "legal team," not the Cardinal, wrote the document that the court saw; the lawyers worked from a memo that described the videotape; and from that memo, the lawyers "understood" the tape to involve no touching.

Yesterday's Archdiocesan statement admits that the lawyers described the boys in the videotape as "fully clothed" even though some had their shirts off.

The Archdiocese says Cardinal Mahony's letter to "the Vatican" was for a purpose different from that of the document the lawyers wrote for the court: "...to explain why the Pope should revoke Lynn Caffoe's priesthood," according to the requirements of the Church's law.

The statement says that is why the Cardinal described the same tape "more aggressively" than the lawyers' document to the court did. The Archdiocese also says the Cardinal used the word "'criminal' (a 'delict') in the context of Church law."

The Archdiocese also says:

"Sixteen years ago, Cardinal Mahony swiftly removed Caffoe from ministry after receiving credible reports of misconduct. He sent Caffoe to a psychologist for an initial assessment. The psychologist filed a Suspected Child Abuse Report, thus notifying law enforcement. Cardinal Mahony barred Caffoe from further ministry. A short time later, Caffoe disappeared from the Archdiocese without notice."