The Artful Roger

The cardinal under whose reign of error I live (sic) keeps stepping in it. Some day soon it may be quick sand and not just doo doo.

This astounding report contains so much outrage in so few paragraphs, it's hard to know where to start. Since I can't afford prizes for a contest:

"We've been very forthcoming to law enforcement," he said on April 26. "You see, I don't want in the church anyone who's abused a child, so the last thing I want is to cover that up."

Oh, no, you get straight As for forthcomingness. And cover up? What cover up? This is the kissin' cousin to, "We have no liturgical abuses in the Archdiocese."

Earlier this week, Mahony faxed a two-page letter to 1,200 priests in his archdiocese, acknowledging that he mishandled Baker's case.

This is not a typo. He apologizes to....THE OTHER PRIESTS!!! What about the boys who were emotionally butchered by Mike Baker, the predator-priest whom Mahoney protected, coddled and shifted around for 14 years after revealing to Mahoney that he (Baker) had a compulsive thing for minors of the same sex? What about the rest of the faithful?

"As your archbishop, I assume full responsibility for allowing Baker to remain in any type of ministry during the 1990s," Mahony wrote. "I offer my sincere, personal apologies for my failure to take firm and decisive action much earlier."

He's sorry. Oh, okay then. Next up at bat: status quo sallies forth unruffled. Warming up in the bullpen: more loss of faith, more suicide attempts among sexual abuse victims.

When a lawyer for some of Baker's victims wrote the archdiocese two years ago and told them Baker had confessed to her as well, the church settled quickly. "Cardinal Mahony did what any other head of a big corporation does," said victims' attorney Lynne Cadigan. "He's going to clean up, cover up and pay off."

Many of these victims' lawyers are mercenary parasites, but to this assessment I have to say, "Amen sister."

Now more alleged victims are coming forward, reports CBS News Correspondent Vince Gonzales.

Maybe now the clouds will part, and the molehole as described by Cardinal Mahoney will finally be revealed as the mountain it really is.

Late Thursday, the Los Angeles County district attorney told Cardinal Mahony to turn over all documents on abusive priests or face a grand jury.

As LA Catholic says, this latest list is a PR-vetted, sanitized version of truly diabolical events. The equivalent of The Exorcist told SpongeBob-style.