Roger Mahony, American cardinal
Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (born February 27, 1936) is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011. Before his appointment, he served as Auxiliary Bishop of Fresno from 1975 to 1980 and Bishop of Stockton from 1980 to 1985. He was instrumental in covering up the sexual abuse of many young people within the Church.
Born in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles and raised in the city's San Fernando Valley, Mahony was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno in 1962. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in January 1975 and consecrated bishop in March 1975. He was then appointed Bishop of Stockton in 1980. In 1985, he was appointed Archbishop of Los Angeles by Pope John Paul II, and became the first Los Angeles native to hold the office. The pope created him a cardinal in 1991, and he voted in the papal conclaves that elected Popes Benedict XVI and Francis.
During his tenure as Los Angeles archbishop, Mahony was instrumental in dividing the archdiocese into five administrative subdivisions and in guiding the construction of the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, which opened in September 2002. He has also been identified as a key figure in the cover-up of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, where dozens of abusive priests were moved to other churches rather than prosecuted. In 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles apologized for abuses by priests and announced a record-breaking settlement of $660 million for 508 victims.In 2011, Mahony reached the mandatory retirement age for bishops and was succeeded by José Horacio Gómez on March 1. On January 31, 2013, Archbishop Gómez relieved Mahony of his public and episcopal duties in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, following the release of personnel files documenting priests' sexual abuse during Mahony's tenure.
In April 2021, Mahony was named in a lawsuit where he was accused of sexually molesting a teenage boy.