Archdiocese Of Los Angeles

Reacting angrily to a Simi Valley priest's allegation that he was framed for embezzlement by another priest, the Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles attacked the claims Thursday as "a gross injustice" made without substantiation. Father David Dean Piroli, 37, is on trial for charges that he embezzled $60,000 in donations from two Ventura County churches--St. Peter Claver in Simi Valley and Sacred Heart in Saticoy.

Re "Mahony Won't Say if Police Got Priests' Names," March 5: As a Catholic who has seen several priests at local parishes mysteriously disappear with no explanation other than the reading of some nebulous letter from the local bishop at a subsequent Mass, I strongly feel that Cardinal Roger Mahony has a responsibility as the shepherd of the Catholics in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles to tell us Catholics, and the proper authorities, who these priests are...

A former Los Angeles priest convicted of molesting two boys has been called before a federal grand jury investigating how the Archdiocese of Los Angeles and Cardinal Roger M. Mahony handled priest abuse cases, a source told The Times. Former priest Michael Stephen Baker said he informed Mahony two decades ago that he sexually abused children, but he was allowed to remain in the ministry and victimized others. In 2007, Baker was sent to state prison for 10 years for molesting two boys.

Three men, born in Vietnam, Mexico and Poland, were ordained as Los Angeles' newest Catholic priests on Saturday, reflecting L.A.'s cultural diversity, as well as punctuating the clergy shortage. They will be the only priests ordained this year for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. "Three is not enough," said Cardinal Roger M. Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles. "There are already 12 priests retiring this year." He said there was more need for outreach and recruitment of priests.

Last year, only 10 men were ordained by the Archdiocese of Los Angeles--the nation's largest--where 1,280 priests served 2.7 million Roman Catholics. That is only one priest for every 2,151 Catholics, the lowest ratio of priests to parishioners of any archdiocese in the country. And the challenge steadily grows more difficult: This year, vocations directors say, only five or six men will be ordained by the Los Angeles archdiocese.

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles is studying plans to close its four-year undergraduate college program for future priests at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo by next fall. In three years, the archdiocese may consider moving the entire seminary to or near Loyola Marymount University in the Westchester area of Los Angeles. Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Friday that he and the seminary board of directors will decide in January whether to shut down the undergraduate program at St.

Acknowledging his own shortcomings in handling sexual abuse by the clergy, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony on Sunday asked "for forgiveness" from Southern California Catholics "for not understanding earlier the extent of the problem" or acting sooner to remove priests who abused minors.

Msgr. Edward W. Clark, a priest, scholar and seminary president, has been named an auxiliary bishop in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles by Pope John Paul II. The pope also appointed another Los Angeles priest, Msgr. Dennis P. O'Neil, as auxiliary bishop in the neighboring Diocese of San Bernardino. Auxiliary bishops serve under a bishop or archbishop, who is the highest authority in a diocese or archdiocese. The papal appointments were announced Tuesday by Cardinal Roger M.

At least 10 priests in the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles remain in parish ministry despite lawsuits filed late last year that accuse them of molesting children. Among the priests are some of the archdiocese's most prominent clerics, including Msgr. Richard A. Loomis, former head of clergy who oversaw misconduct allegations against priests; Msgr. Patrick Reilly in Burbank; and Father Michael J. Carroll, who was voted Walnut's man of the year last week.

The path to priesthood started for Ramon Palomera in the hills of Jalisco, Mexico, led through the Ramona Gardens housing projects in East Los Angeles and continued to a Lincoln Heights mortuary. There, he felt a calling to God. Brian Castaneda and Jose Bautista heard the same voice. But on Saturday morning at St. John of God Cathedral in Norwalk the three made up this year's entire ordination class for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, one of the smallest groups in recent memory.