Roger Mahony
His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. He currently serves as the fourth Archbishop of Los Angeles, and was elevated to the cardinalate in 1991.
Biography
Roger Michael Mahony was born in Hollywood, California, the son of Victor and Loretta (née Baron) Mahony. His father was a poultry farmer, and he has a twin brother, Louis, and an older brother, Neil. As a child he attended St. Charles Grammar School, north of Hollywood, and at age 14 he entered the minor seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
After studying at the Our Lady of Angels Seminary and St. John's Seminary, Mahony was ordained to the priesthood on May 1, 1962 by Bishop of Monterey-Fresno Aloysius Willinger, CSsR. He graduated from The Catholic University of America in 1964 with a master's degree in social work. For the next 13 years, he held pastoral and curial assignments in the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno and the newly formed Diocese of Fresno, and was named a Monsignor in February 1967. He also taught social work at Fresno State University during this period.
On January 7, 1975, he was appointed auxiliary bishop of Fresno and titular bishop of Tamascani. Mahony received his episcopal consecration on the following March 19 from Bishop of Fresno Hugh Donohue, with Bishops William Johnson and John Cummins serving as co-consecrators. That year, Governor Jerry Brown appointed Bishop Mahony the first chair of the California Agricultural Labor Relations Board, where he worked with the United Farm Workers and various growers in the state to resolve labor disputes.
On February 15, 1980, Mahony was appointed Bishop of Stockton. Mahony has admitted to firing at least two priests for sexual abuse during his tenure at Stockton, although critics believe there were additional cases during this time.
On July 16, 1985, Mahony was promoted to Archbishop of Los Angeles, the first native Angeleno to hold the office. Mahony was created Cardinal Priest of Santi Quattro Coronati by Pope John Paul II in the consistory of June 28, 1991.
After the former Cathedral of Saint Vibiana was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Mahony began plans to construct the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, one of the largest Catholic churches in the United States. It was dedicated on September 2, 2002.
Mahony was one of the cardinal electors who participated in the 2005 papal conclave that selected Pope Benedict XVI. Mahony will be eligible to participate in any future conclaves that begin before his 80th birthday on February 27, 2016.
Controversy
| Styles of Roger Cardinal Mahony | |
|---|---|
.svg) | |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Los Angeles |
The 2006 documentary Deliver Us From Evil is based on accusations that Mahony knew that Oliver O'Grady, a priest who sexually abused children, including a 9-month-old baby, in a string of Central California towns for 20 years, was a sexual abuser but failed to keep him away from children. In 1984, a Stockton police investigation into sexual abuse allegations against O'Grady was reportedly closed after diocesan officials promised to remove the priest from any contact with children. Instead, he was reassigned to a parish about 50 miles east, in San Andreas, where he continued to molest children. Not long after, Mahony was promoted to archbishop of Los Angeles, the largest Catholic diocese in the country. In Deliver Us From Evil, O'Grady says Mahony was "very supportive and very compassionate and that another situation had been smoothly handled". Mahony denies knowing that O’Grady was a child molester. [1]
Mahony has caused controversy among different segments of people in the Church. Some Catholics were upset about the large amount of money that was spent on the new cathedral, outside of which the LA Catholic Worker Movement held protests. Mahony defended the expense of the new cathedral to replace the previous earthquake-damaged church citing the need for a community to have a religious center that united people in faith and spirituality.[2] [3] Some Catholics were upset by statements by Mahony on celibacy and the liturgy. Cardinal Mahony wrote a letter on the Mass called Gather Faithfully Together: A Guide for Sunday Mass. The resulting controversy from this letter over the liturgy and the Eucharist led to a public feud between Mahony and Mother Angelica. [4]
Mahony spoke out on provisions in immigration bills, such as the the Sensenbrenner-King Bill, debated by Congress in late 2005 and 2006. He wrote to President Bush that certain proposed measures would effectively outlaw the provision of charitable assistance and religious ministry to individuals not in valid immigration status. In 2007, Mahony supported the "comprehensive" immigration bill which would have rewarded 12 to 20 million illegal aliens for violating America's laws, but done very little to strengthen America's southern border.
Trivia
- He holds honorary doctorates from Loyola Marymount University, University of Portland, University of Notre Dame, St. Patrick's College in Maynooth, Ireland, and University of Southern California.
- He serves on a number of committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including those on Liturgy and Pro-Life Activities.
- He was a member of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace (1984-1989) and the Pontifical Council for the Pastoral Care of Migrants and Itinerants (1986-1991), Pontifical Council for Social Communications (1989-present), and Prefecture for the Economic Affairs of the Holy See (2000-present).
- He is a member of the Board of Trustees of The Catholic University of America.
- He has a general class amateur radio license, call sign W6QYI.
Episcopal succession
Ordination history of Roger Mahony | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||
References
- [5];"A former priest molested kids in California parishes. Now he talks in a chilling documentary"; SF Gate; retrieved October 25th, 2006
- "Profile of Cardinal Mahony"; Archdiocese of Los Angeles website; retrieved January 21, 2006
- "Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony"; Catholic-Hierarchy.org; retrieved January 21, 2006
- "National Press Club -- Cardinal Roger Mahony"; National Public Radio; retrieved January 21, 2006
- "Called By God To Help"; Editorial by Cardinal Mahony in New York Times, March 22, 2006
External links