Cardinal Roger M Mahony

An attorney for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles on Thursday denied a claim that he attended a 1986 meeting at which a priest told Cardinal Roger M. Mahony that he had sexually abused minors. The attorney, John P. McNicholas, said in a letter faxed to The Times that he has never met the former priest, Michael Stephen Baker, and never been in the same room with him.

Re "Mahony defends action on abuse," March 6 Many religions promulgate beliefs that strain credulity. The Roman Catholic Church, however, has recently raised the bar to unbelievable heights. Accept that a merciful God would bar use of contraceptives by families whose natural fecundity condemns them to lives of crushing poverty. Deny that priests constrained by a vow of celibacy might be inclined to sexual misconduct. Deny that the church's hierarchy might not act swiftly and resolutely to protect future victims of pedophile priests.

Re "Mahony investigated over abusive priests," Jan. 29, and "Mahony probe is latest for high-profile U.S. attorney," Jan. 30 Thank you for running front-page stories on the investigation of Cardinal Roger M. Mahony by U.S. Atty. Thomas P. O'Brien. This coverage provided a glimmer of hope that justice -- in whatever way it can be performed -- might possibly lead to the removal of Mahony from the powerful position in which he sits. The grounds of depriving others of "honest services" are quite apt. It may be just the different angle that is needed to unseat the man who attempted to conceal the records of the Catholic priests' pedophilia, and abuse of 508 known victims, at the cost of $660 million.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony of Los Angeles has been named by Pope John Paul II as his personal representative to the 50th anniversary celebration of Crusade for the Holy Rosary next month in the Philippines. The crusade was started in New York in 1942 by Father Patrick Peyton, who died earlier this year in San Pedro at 83. Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, will be the principal celebrant and will deliver the homily Dec.

Who is to say what Mary looked like? Nobody really knows (Letters, Sept. 8, 15). We all are used to the conventions used to depict her--flowing robes, covered head, downcast eyes and sad expression. Is this really how she dressed, or is this how we imagine she dressed? Or did she look like the Mary in Notre Dame in Paris, with crown on head, body-hugging dress, body in Gothic s-curve pose with baby Jesus on hip? She looks decidedly medieval French in that statue. In other words, those who built Notre Dame put her in their own time, just as Robert Graham did with his Mary.

Re "Charges unlikely for Mahony," Jan. 23 In response to the question of whether calling the police immediately about child abuse was the right thing to do, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony's answer that involving law enforcement wasn't the way such cases were handled in the 1980s is telling. Mahony, the former archbishop of Los Angeles, appears to accept that the morality of an action or inaction is dependent on the societal framework in which it occurs. This contrasts with the Roman Catholic Church's stance that morality is fixed and independent of current cultural norms.

Re "Mahony's long-shot," Opinion, Feb. 3 Eric Berkowitz's Op-Ed article is a brilliant soft-sell on the incredibly heinous acts of the Catholic Church. Even while conceding what a horrible job it has done at admitting, controlling and even recognizing the scourge of abusive priests in its ranks, the church, Berkowitz argues, should be allowed to continue. It's broke, so let's not fix it. Is that his point? Please! When you break the law, you go to jail, especially when you do it under color of high moral authority.

What makes Cardinal Roger M. Mahony or Robert Graham feel that the Virgin Mary needs to be brought into the 21st century ("In Our Own Image," by Reed Johnson, Sept. 1)? A better image of that would be a woman in a suit, a cell phone in one hand, a briefcase in the other and a baby strapped across her chest. Mary shouldn't have to be brought into the 21st century. She is a real person, not one created out of our imagination. She is a woman of Jewish descent. Her looks should reflect that.