CARDINAL MAHONY SPEAKS.Byline: CHRIS WEINKOPF MONDAY afternoon, I took a call from Tod Tamberg, Cardinal Roger Mahony's spokesman. Tamberg figured that the Daily News would be editorializing on the Archdiocese arch·di·o·cese n. The district under an archbishop's jurisdiction. arch  di·oc of Los Angeles's $660 million
settlement with more than 500 sexual-abuse victims, and wondered if I
would be interested in talking to Noun 1. talking to - a lengthy rebuke; "a good lecture was my father's idea of discipline"; "the teacher gave him a talking to"lecture, speech rebuke, reprehension, reprimand, reproof, reproval - an act or expression of criticism and censure; "he had to the cardinal before we finished the edit. I asked whether the interview would be on the record, and Tamberg agreed. I gratefully accepted the offer. But after I posted the interview on the Daily News' "Friendly Fire" blog, Tamberg protested that he intended the interview as background. Below is my transcription of the interview: On what the cardinal means when he says he's taking responsibility: I found in visiting with victims that unless you accepted responsibility in the name of the Church for what happened to them, you cannot authentically offer them an apology. And as I met with many victims, most of whose cases, practically all, took place long before I came here. ...(I saw the) need to take responsibility in the name the Church so that I can personally take responsibility. I pressed him further: What is he taking responsibility for? What specifically did he do wrong? That's not the issue ... for victims, they just need the official voice of the archbishop to say whatever happened to you shouldn't have happened. It's sinful, it's wrong, and I apologize a·pol·o·gize intr.v. a·pol·o·gized, a·pol·o·giz·ing, a·pol·o·giz·es 1. To make excuse for or regretful acknowledgment of a fault or offense. 2. To make a formal defense or justification in speech or writing. . ... I'm sorry what happened to you in the life of the Church, and I apologize ... I tried to stress the difference between "I'm sorry about what's happened to you" versus "I'm sorry for what I have done." Isn't there an important difference between the two? That's true, but that's not what (victims are) looking for Looking for In the context of general equities, this describing a buy interest in which a dealer is asked to offer stock, often involving a capital commitment. Antithesis of in touch with. . They would love to meet the offender and hear him say that. They're looking for an apology from the Church. What about the victims who say his apology is inadequate? I'm sorry, I really am. We'll continue to work closely with the victims. I've arranged that this morning again. Victims are all in a tad different place on their journey. Some are doing really very well, some have had good counseling and are very independent. ... Some less so. Some are still having trouble. I don't expect everybody to say this is great ... On why he didn't call the police when he learned of abuses: Unfortunately, in those times we just didn't do that as readily, we didn't understand the depth of the problem. ... We would send (offenders) to a licensed psychologist, psychiatrist psychiatrist /psy·chi·a·trist/ (si-ki´ah-trist) a physician who specializes in psychiatry. psy·chi·a·trist n. A physician who specializes in psychiatry. , or therapist we knew and we told the police that if they discovered there really was an abuse that they would notify law enforcement ... On the perception that he "dragged his feet" about entering into a settlement: This was an extremely complex case, in terms of offenders, plaintiffs, those that were being abused. Up until even a week ago we had a list of John Doe John Doe formerly, any plaintiff; now just anybody. [Am. Pop. Usage: Brewer Dictionary, 329] See : Everyman 1 through 1,000 with no names. ... And then there were the insurers. We have a lot of insurers, some of whom are out of business, some have been sold to someone else. ... We had to hire a specialist to find out who the insurance company was ... On whether he had been trying to keep personnel files a secret: (The files) have been in the hands of judges for years now. That wasn't the issue. The issue was which questions on those personnel files were privileged under California law California Law consists of 29 codes, covering various subject areas, the State Constitution and Statutes. See also
About the perception that he was afraid to testify in trial: Actually, in the trial that would have started today, (the priest) was very seriously ill A patient is very seriously ill when his or her illness is of such severity that life is imminently endangered. See also seriously ill. when I came here in the end of '85, and ended up in a rest home somewhere in '86. He died in '87. I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. anything about his conduct in those cases, nothing. In fact, in almost all the cases set for trial, especially those involving religious orders, I don't even know who those people are. There's nothing about testifying that's frightening me. All I can say is, I wasn't here and I didn't know. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Cardinal Roger Mahony His Eminence Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony (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. looks at those who were molested mo·lest tr.v. mo·lest·ed, mo·lest·ing, mo·lests 1. To disturb, interfere with, or annoy. 2. To subject to unwanted or improper sexual activity. by priests as Superior Court Judge Haley J. Fromholz asked the victims in the courtroom to stand Monday in Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. . Al Seib/Associated Press |
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