Priests

At least six months after Cardinal Roger M. Mahony told his superiors at the Vatican that a videotape provided proof of a priest's criminal misconduct with high school boys, the head of the Los Angeles Archdiocese told the public that the tape showed no sexual activity between Father Lynn Caffoe and the boys, according to court records.

An elderly nun, under questioning by a lawyer, recently said she could remember almost nothing about his client, a child who had been sexually molested by a Roman Catholic priest. Lawyer Irwin Zalkin was puzzled because church records showed she had heard several complaints about the San Diego priest, and the file noted that she had reported them to higher authority.

Re "Catholic doctrine is cited in priest sex abuse cases," March 26 I'm certain there are many Catholics who have never heard of the doctrine of mental reservation. Some might justify it as nothing more than sin of omission. However, let's call it what it truly is. It is standing in a public forum, swearing to one's God to tell the truth and then lying. And this has become the acceptable practice among some Roman Catholic clergy -- the very people we, as Catholics, were taught to look up to and revere.

A former Thousand Oaks pastor who pleaded guilty to sexually molesting a young female student in the late 1980s was sentenced this week to more than six years in prison. William Alan Malgren, 52, briefly fainted after hearing his sentence, handed down Tuesday afternoon by Ventura County Superior Court Judge Bruce Clark. Malgren was revived within minutes.

The Roman Catholic Diocese of San Diego on Friday released the names of 38 priests accused of sexual abuse, following up on a pledge it made when filing for bankruptcy protection a month ago. Diocese officials said the roster is an exhaustive account of priests facing "credible allegations," listing the dates and parishes in San Diego where the priests served and noting their current status. Plaintiffs' attorneys said the list was incomplete.

Crossing the Pacific in a dilapidated boat, 10-year-old Bich Vu had a face-off with God. "If you save me and my family," he promised nearly three decades ago, "my life will be yours." The miracle happened, and Vu, now 39, kept his word by becoming a priest. "My experience on the ocean," he says, "made my faith grow stronger. It taught me that I was weak. I couldn't save myself; I had to depend on God." Vu, known to parishioners at Anaheim's St.

A conservative Episcopal priest who helped lead a 2004 revolt against the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles over homosexuality has resigned as rector of a Newport Beach church after a female parishioner complained about unwanted attention from the married clergyman. The Rev. Praveen Bunyan, who ministered at St. James Church, resigned last week after confessing to "inappropriate conduct" with the woman, said church spokeswoman Karen Bro.

A soccer game between Muslim imams and Christian priests at the end of a conference in Oslo to promote interfaith dialogue was canceled because the teams could not agree on whether women should take part. A Church of Norway spokesman said the imams refused to play against a co-ed team because of their belief in avoiding physical contact with unrelated women. The church decided to drop its female players, but the priests' team captain left in protest.

The pop-idol priest strides to the altar like the star that he is, a rock band pounding away to his right, cameras flashing to his left and the multitudes pulsating in this cavernous ex-factory that serves as a church. "Hold the hand of Jesus!" Father Marcelo Rossi, a dynamic giant in a red cassock and billowing white sleeves, proclaims into the cordless mike, urging the faithful to hold hands. "God is tops! God is tops!"

Father James Crowe says he doesn't like to put a "liberation" label on the grass-roots work that has earned him acclaim in Sao Paulo's infamous Jardim Angela district, one of this sprawling city's toughest neighborhoods.