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http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2013/01/31/us/31reuters-usa-church-abuse.html?_r=0
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - After years of legal battles, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Thursday released the files of priests accused of molesting children and removed a senior clergyman who had been linked to efforts to conceal the abuse.
The archdiocese also said the clergyman's former top aide had stepped down.
"The 2013 public release of the files of clergy who were subject of the
2007 global settlement concludes a sad and shameful chapter in the
history of our local church," the archdiocese said in a statement.
The files containing thousands of pages were made public more than a
week after church records relating to 14 priests were unsealed as part
of a separate civil suit, showing that church officials plotted to
conceal the molestations from law enforcement as late as 1987.
Archbishop Jose Gomez said in a statement that he had informed his
predecessor, Cardinal Roger Mahony, that he was barred from any future
administrative or public duties in the church.
Additionally, Gomez said Auxiliary Bishop Thomas Curry had stepped down as regional bishop of Santa Barbara.
Mahony and Curry, his top adviser, both worked to send priests accused
of abuse out of state to shield known molesters in the clergy from law
enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s, the files released previously showed.
"To every victim of child sexual abuse by a member of our Church: I want
to help you in your healing. I am profoundly sorry for these sins
against you," Gomez said.
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