Cardinal Mahony under investigation for failure to properly handle abusive priests.

CARDINAL ROGER MAHONY of Los Angeles is the subject of a federal grand jury investigation. During this investigation, US attorney Thomas O'Brien will determine if Mahony was at all fraudulent in his handling of priests accused of sexual abuse.

For several years, the cardinal has been accused of moving priests accused of abuse to other parishes instead of removing them from ministry. He has also refused access to the church's personnel files.

Two years ago, the archdiocese agreed to pay $660 million to 508 victims of sexual abuse--the largest payout since the scandal broke in the 1990s.

The Los Angeles diocese, unlike the dioceses of Lincoln, Neb. and Tulsa, Okla., is considered to be compliant with the US bishops' child protection charter, which was adopted in 2002 and calls for annual audits.