Roger Cardinal Mahony
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Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (b. February 27, 1936) is the fourth Roman Catholic Archbishop of Los Angeles.
Biography
Born in Hollywood, Mahony was ordained a priest in the Diocese of Fresno on May 1, 1962 and was graduated from The Catholic University of America in 1964 with a M.S.W. He is now a member of the Board of Trustees at CUA. While in Fresno, he taught social work at California State University, Fresno. On March 19, 1975, he was ordained titular bishop of Tamascani, and auxiliary bishop of Fresno. 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 the Diocese of Stockton. Mahony has admitted to firing at least two priests for sexual abuse while Bishop of Stockton, although critics believe there were additional cases of abuse during Mahony's tenure. Documents released by the church in October, 2005 reveal that Mahony participated in the inter-Parish transfers of more than 100 priests in his archdiocese accused of sexual abuse of children. See: Roman Catholic Church sex abuse scandal.
| Styles of Roger Cardinal Mahony | |
| |
| Reference style | His Eminence |
| Spoken style | Your Eminence |
| Informal style | Cardinal |
| See | Los Angeles |
After the former Cathedral of Saint Vibiana was damaged in the 1994 Northridge earthquake, Mahony began plans to build 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
Mahony has caused controversy among liberals and conservatives in the Catholic Church. Some liberals were upset about the large amount of money that was spent on the new cathedral. The LA Catholic Worker Movement held protests outside the cathedral. Some conservatives were upset by what they perceived as statements by Mahony on celibacy, the liturgy, and Eucharistic theology which they saw as coming from a liberal perspective. Cardinal Mahony wrote a letter on the Sunday liturgy called . The resulting controversy from this letter over the liturgy and the Eucharist led to a public feud between Cardinal Mahony and Mother Angelica.
Mahony has also been both praised and criticized for his stance on provisions of immigration bills debated by Congress in late 2005 and 2006. He has [editorialized] that certain proposed measures would effectively outlaw the provision of charitable assistance and religious ministry to individuals not in valid immigration status. Mahony has said that he will instruct his priests in all 288 parishes in the Los Angeles Archdiocese to defy the relevant provisions of the Sensenbrenner-King Bill, if they become law.
Mahony recently caused controversy by deciding not to do background checks on volunteers working with youth, saying that this wouldn't allow illegal aliens to volunteer. Many use this as an example of Mahony caring more about politics than the safety of children.[link][link]
Episcopal Succession
| Episcopal Lineage | |
| Consecrated by: | Hugh Aloysius Donohoe |
| Date of consecration: | March 19 1975 |
References
- ["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
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