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Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony

Church positions
See	Los Angeles
Title	Cardinal Archbishop of Los Angeles
Period in office	July 16, 1985—present
Raised to cardinalate	June 28, 1991
Predecessor	Timothy Cardinal Manning
Successor	incumbent
Previous post	Bishop of Stockton
Personal
Date of birth	February 27, 1936
Place of birth	Hollywood, California

His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony, AA, STB, MSW (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.

Contents 1 Biography 2 Controversy 3 Trivia 4 Episcopal succession 5 References 6 External links

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 Aloysius Willinger, CSsR. He graduated from The Catholic University of America, where he is now a member of the Board of Trustees, in 1964 with a doctorate in social work. For the next 13 years, he did pastoral and curial work in Monterey-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 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.

Styles of Roger Cardinal Mahony
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 both liberals and conservatives in the Church. Some liberals 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 conservatives were upset by what they perceived as liberal 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.

• 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 has a general class amateur radio license, call sign W6QYI.

Episcopal Lineage
Consecrated by:	Hugh Aloysius Donohoe
Date of consecration:	March 19, 1975
Consecrator of
Bishop	Date of consecration
George Patrick Ziemann	February 23, 1987
Armando Xavier Ochoa	February 23, 1987
Carl Anthony Fisher	February 23, 1987
Sylvester Donovan Ryan	May 31, 1990
Stephen Edward Blaire	May 31, 1990
Joseph Martin Sartoris	March 19, 1994
Thomas John Curry	March 19, 1994
Gabino Zavala	March 19, 1994
George Hugh Niederauer	January 25, 1995
Gerald Eugene Wilkerson	January 21, 1998
Edward William Clark	March 26, 2001
Oscar Azarcon Solis	February 10, 2004
Alexander Salazar	November 4, 2004

• [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

• The Cardinal's website

Preceded by Merlin Joseph Guilfoyle	Bishop of Stockton 1980–1985	Succeeded by Donald William Montrose
Preceded by Timothy Cardinal Manning	Archbishop of Los Angeles 1985–present	Succeeded by Incumbent