Cardinals Clergy

Desperately alone in his dark world, 20-year-old Jesus Orbina began to shake and cry uncontrollably when a message delivered to prisoners throughout the world Sunday came to him inside the Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail. You have not been forgotten, the suicidal Orbina was told. People out there love you.

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony told a recent gathering of priests that he was assaulted last summer by a man enraged about the Roman Catholic Church's clergy abuse scandal, according to several sources familiar with the discussion. Mahony, 71, told priests attending the Los Angeles Archdiocese's annual pastoral meeting in October that he had been knocked down and badly bruised in July, near the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown L.A.

The subtle campaign to succeed Pope John Paul II, a condensed season of hushed conversations and private reflection, gives way in earnest today to the effort to elect a new leader for the Roman Catholic Church. Solemnly, 115 red-cloaked cardinals will say Mass and then gather in the Sistine Chapel for a ritualistic, secret meeting known as a conclave. Within a few hours, they will begin dropping ballots into silver, bronze and gold-plated urns. It takes 77 votes to get elected.

Pope Benedict XVI elevated 23 clerics from across the world to the top ranks of the Roman Catholic Church, including the Chaldean patriarch of Baghdad, whom he welcomed by saying he was praying for peace in Iraq. Benedict placed a red hat on the head of each cardinal as they knelt in turn during the ceremony in St. Peter's Basilica. Chaldean Patriarch Emmanuel III Delly, 80, said he was "very moved" by the pope's words.

Any day now, the U.S. marshals will come for Tarzan and Cougar, two gang members imprisoned in the high-rise federal jail here on charges of killing a Roman Catholic cardinal in Guadalajara. The homeboys from the Logan Heights barrio will be shackled, turned over to Mexican police in a top-security operation at the border and then flown to a Mexican prison to stand trial. Recruited in an unprecedented alliance between a Mexican drug cartel and a U.S.

Two gang members, pleading guilty to drug charges, admitted that they took part in a 1993 shootout in which the Roman Catholic cardinal in Guadalajara was killed, U.S. officials said Thursday. The men, Adolfo Marin Cuevas, 32, and Carlos Garcia Martinez, 28, made the admission as part of a guilty plea in U.S. District Court on charges that they conspired to distribute cocaine and marijuana, according to a statement issued by interim U.S. Atty. Charles G. La Bella.

Archbishop Roger Michael Mahony, an electrician's son from North Hollywood who preaches social justice and doctrinal firmness to the largest flock of Roman Catholics in the United States, was named cardinal of Los Angeles here this morning. Pope John Paul II elevated Mahony to become the third cardinal in the history of Los Angeles at his weekly general audience here today, papal spokesman Joaquin Navarro said.

A seemingly endless line of mourners wound through the ancient cobbled streets surrounding St. Peter's Square on Tuesday, an enormous public outpouring that coincided with a second day of talks among powerful Roman Catholic cardinals who will soon choose a successor to Pope John Paul II. The cardinals gave their seal of approval to elaborate ritual elements of Friday's papal funeral, expected to be the largest public event ever held in the city-state.

Breaking with recent precedent, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony agreed Wednesday to deliver the invocation at the opening of the Democratic National Convention here Monday. Four years ago, when the Democrats met in Chicago, the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin turned down an invitation to address the convention. Similarly, the late Cardinal John J. O'Connor of New York absented himself from Democratic conventions in his city in 1984 and 1992.

The body of Cardinal James A. Hickey, longtime Roman Catholic archbishop of Washington, was moved to the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for his funeral Mass today. A large crowd was expected to honor the prelate who died Sunday at age 84. Mourners have filed by his body this week at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle. Cardinal William W.

Pope Benedict XVI on Wednesday named 23 new Roman Catholic cardinals, beefing up the group that is expected to eventually choose his successor. The new "princes" of the Catholic Church, as cardinals are called, come from the United States, Europe and three other continents, reflecting what the pope said was the universality of the church "and the multiplicity of its missions."

Mexico's most prominent cardinal was deposed Wednesday in a U.S. lawsuit accusing him of complicity in the alleged rape of a child by a Mexican priest. Cardinal Norberto Rivera and his lawyers rushed past reporters and photographers waiting outside archdiocese offices in Mexico City without speaking. Later, archdiocese spokesman Rev. Hugo Valdemar Romero said Rivera gave his statement voluntarily.

The archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Francis George, was hospitalized with a slight hip fracture Saturday morning after he apparently slipped and fell inside a church while blessing Easter baskets, archdiocese officials said. George, 70, was at St. Ferdinand Roman Catholic Church to bless baskets of food for Easter meals when he slipped on some holy water that had splashed onto the marble floor, said Colleen Dolan, a spokeswoman for the archdiocese.

A court in Los Angeles has no legal right to try Mexico's most prominent cardinal in connection with alleged child molestation and rape by a Mexican priest, the cardinal's lawyer said Sunday. Bernardo Fernandez, who represents Cardinal Norberto Rivera, said only a Mexican court has the authority to rule on the lawsuit.

Pope Benedict XVI installed his first group of cardinals Friday, crowning 15 new princes of the Roman Catholic Church with scarlet hats symbolizing their willingness to shed blood in defense of the faith. Nearly a year after he became leader of the world's most powerful religious institution, Benedict used a solemn, regal ceremony in St. Peter's Square to urge his followers to proclaim a message of love "far and wide" that will unite and bolster Christians everywhere.

Hundreds of Roman Catholics from Southern California are converging on the Vatican for five days of events surrounding Friday's installation of Long Beach-born Archbishop William J. Levada as a cardinal. The ceremonies are also of special interest at St. Anthony High School in Long Beach. And with good reason. It's Levada's alma mater. Students are "so excited, they're beside themselves," said Principal Lori Barr.

Cardinal James Hickey, who headed the Archdiocese of Washington for 20 years, was remembered during his funeral Mass as a passionate provider of services to the poor and a champion who fought to eradicate prejudice and bias. More than 2,000 mourners filled the halls of the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception.

The Mexican government on Wednesday offered an unprecedented $5-million reward for information leading to the arrest of some of Mexico's top drug traffickers, including those allegedly responsible for the murders of a Roman Catholic cardinal and six other people. The killings at Guadalajara's international airport Monday were a tremendous embarrassment to President Carlos Salinas de Gortari, who only recently renewed Mexico's diplomatic relations with the Vatican.

Los Angeles will be making church history next week, when Pope Benedict XVI installs native son William J. Levada as one of 15 new cardinals in the Vatican. Because of his rank and experience, Levada, 69, prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, will be first in line Friday to get his red hat. Levada's promotion brings to three the number of Los Angeles-area natives in the College of Cardinals, the body that names a new pope.

Pope Benedict XVI named his first group of cardinals Wednesday, including an outspoken Hong Kong prelate and the former archbishop of San Francisco, as the pontiff put his stamp on the elite cadre that rules the Roman Catholic Church. Benedict announced the elevation of 15 cardinals and said the new "princes of the church," as they are known, will be installed March 24, when each is bestowed with a bright red hat that signifies the blood they are willing to sacrifice for their faith.