Estimated read time: 2-3 minutes
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
SALT LAKE CITY — An embattled Catholic leader who was barred from ministry after accusations of covering up sexual abuse claims in 2013 is no longer going to attend a Salt Lake benefit event next month.
Cardinal Roger Mahony was scheduled to speak at The Bishop’s Dinner, an annual benefit dinner for the Cathedral of the Madeleine, slated for Sept. 6.
“Please note, Cardinal (Mahony) will not be attending the annual Bishop’s Dinner for the Cathedral of the Madeleine,” the Catholic Diocese of Utah tweeted Monday evening. Diocese officials didn’t return a call by KSL on Tuesday.
The decision comes less than a week after a grand jury report of sexual abuse in Pennsylvania that stated more than 1,000 victims were abused by about 300 priests over a period of several decades among six dioceses across the state.
The report, which generated a response from Pope Francis on Monday and also a statement from the Most Rev. Oscar Solis, bishop of the Diocese of Salt Lake City, put allegations of sexual abuse within the Catholic church back into the national spotlight.
“As a humble shepherd of the Catholic Church in Utah, together with my brother bishops in the United States, I express my personal shame, distress and anger concerning the sexual abuse committed by some of our priests, bishops and Church leaders against our children, young people and adults whom we are supposed to serve and to protect,” Bishop Solis wrote in his statement.
“I share the sentiments of many who feel stunned, enraged and scandalized by the past and recent revelations of these misdeeds and the mishandling of allegations of abuse by some of our Church authorities,” he added. “In view of these grave sins, I beg forgiveness for the wrongdoings of my brother priests, bishops and other Church ministers and for failing in our responsibility to be the true shepherds Christ called us to be.”
Cardinal Mahony served as the archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 until his retirement in 2011. He was named a cardinal in 1991, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
He was barred from public ministry from the archdiocese in 2013 after documents showed he shielded priests who had been accused of sexually abusing children, according to the New York Times.
A new speaker for the Sept. 6 event has not yet been named.
