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Catholic cover-up: The former archbishop of Los Angeles, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, and other senior clergymen conspired to protect pedophile priests from prosecution throughout the 1980s, previously confidential church documents have revealed. The records, released as part of a pending civil suit against the archdiocese, show that rather than defrocking priests and contacting the police, the archdiocese sent abusive clergy to treatment facilities out of state—largely because therapists in California were legally obligated to report evidence of child molestation to the police. In one 1987 case, Mahony’s adviser, Monsignor Thomas Curry, suggested that they send a predator priest to “a lawyer who is also a psychiatrist,” to put reports “under the protection of privilege.” Mahony, who retired in 2011, apologized and said he had been naïve about the “full and lasting impact these horrible acts” would have on victims. A victims’ group called for Mahony to be criminally prosecuted.

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