"He would light a single candle and sit down next to you on a sofa. Like Nason, he insists that Father X's antics were "common knowledge" at the seminary during the late 1970s. The family settled in Los Angeles and he became a U.S. citizen at age 18. The archdiocese said Cardinal Roger Mahony, the Los Angeles archbishop at the time, also reported the allegation to the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. It described the development of diocesan policy related to sexual abuse, and case studies of accused priests that fully explored how awareness and understanding of their crimes unfolded. The priest moved out in 1988, leaving the tower empty. St. John's Seminary, a Cesspool of Corruption and Homosexual Instead of being assigned parish work upon ordination, each was sent away for secular degrees. After succeeding Manning as archbishop of L.A. in 1985, Mahony appointed Ziemann vice rector and dean of students at Our Lady Queen of Angels. Ostensibly, Ziemann is at the monastery doing "penance" and undergoing "spiritual rehabilitation," says Fred Allison, a spokesman for the Tucson diocese, in whose jurisdiction the retreat is located. That it should be that way is no mystery. Over $190 million was raised from foundations and individual donors. Mahony headed to the nation's capital to attend the Catholic University of America, where he earned a master's degree in social service. The statement said the archdiocese was informed through a third party. The photographs also illustrate just how powerful a figure Mahony has become within the hierarchy of the American church, based on the numerous contemporaries and protgs who've ascended to lofty clerical positions. Ziemann is from an old-money Pasadena family, the grandson of late writer, lawyer and orator Joseph Scott, one of the most prominent Catholic laymen in the United States during the first half of the 20th century. (As murmurs about Trupia spread, campus wags vulgarly referred to the visits as "See and Cum" weekends.) Mahony was promoted to Archbishop of Los Angeles the following year. Top: St. John's Seminary, Camarillo, California. [40], This article is about the cardinal. Faced with declining enrollments and spiraling costs, he miffed many in 1987 by selling off a treasure trove of antiquarian books and manuscripts -- including a rare Gutenberg Bible -- that had been donated to the school by the family of the late oil baron Edward Doheny Jr. For example, St. Francis Seminary at the University of San Diego became so notorious as a magnate for actively gay priests and students that author Jason Berry devoted a chapter to it in his 1992 book Lead Us Not Into Temptation, a scathing expos of priestly sex abuse. Photo courtesy of AP. Mahony graduated from Catholic University of America in 1964 with a Master of Social Work degree. In 1987, Mahony presided over the controversial auction of an extensive collection of rare books, including a Gutenberg Bible, donated to St. John's Seminary by philanthropist and book collector Carrie Estelle Doheny. That night, Father X didn't show up for evening prayer. Tour. Yet, until now, almost nothing has surfaced publicly about Father X, the priest whose alleged depravations at St. John's inadvertently set in motion events that may ultimately help undermine Mahony's future as head of the nation's largest Roman Catholic archdiocese. 4437 as punitive and open to abusive interpretation, and supported S. Mahony has also been identified as a key figure in the cover-up of the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal, where dozens of abusive priests were moved to other churches rather than prosecuted. Roger Michael Cardinal Mahony KGCHS (born February 27, 1936) is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985 to 2011. Nason says he went immediately to the dean of students to tell him about the priest's conduct, which he says was widely discussed among St. John's students. New Times has learned that Mahony chum and longtime Ziemann friend and fellow St. John's alum William Levada, the archbishop of San Francisco, is playing a prominent role in supervising Ziemann's "spiritual rehabilitation." Your email address will not be published. He served on a number of committees of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, including those on Liturgy, Pro-Life Activities, and Migration & Refugees. [24] In December 1984, Mahony transferred O'Grady to another parish. Nason's stand against priestly sex abuse may have gotten him kicked out of St. John's, but it didn't go unnoticed. Coincidentally or not, those most involved in the gingerly handling of Zieman are closely allied to Mahony, who (as the DiMaria settlement shows) has had the most to lose from his association with his former favorite. Because I don't think you wanted to do that.". It is an impressive assemblage. CAMARILLO Cloistered atop a tranquil hill behind a locked electronic gate, St. John's Seminary seems a world away from the financial troubles and sexual scandals of the country . By 2014, the archdiocese had agreed to pay $720 million to clergy abuse victims over the previous decade and released internal files that showed Mahony shielded priests and ordered a surrogate to withhold evidence from police. On January 14, 1938, John J. Cantwell announced the planned construction of the seminary. Like Healy, he declined to identify the group's other members. He entered St. Johns Seminary in suburban Camarillo in 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1984. The dioceses of Tucson and of Orange earlier this year quietly settled a lawsuit in which nine former altar boys and another man had accused Trupia and three other priests of molesting them in Arizona and California more than 25 years ago, shortly after Trupia completed his priestly studies at St. John's. But Sutphin, Wempe, Baker and Ziemann have more in common than merely their reputations as sexual predators. Bishops have largely escaped the same scrutiny as ordinary priests accused of misconduct in the decades-long sex abuse scandal, and until recently they have rarely been sanctioned or removed for covering up for abusers. The 1960s Los Angeles Seminary Crisis - JSTOR What does his resignation mean? It publishes four issues per year containing articles, review articles, book reviews, and lists of books received in all areas of church history. It was the fall of 2010. Tucson's bishop, Moreno, had to explicitly approve the arrangement before his fellow bishop and St. John's alum could perform any priestly duties within the diocese. The law firm Jeff Anderson & Associates, which pursues litigation on behalf of alleged victims of clergy sex abuse, noted that Salazars name wasnt included in archdiocese lists of credibly accused priests released in 2005, 2008 and this year. But those who know Mahony and Ziemann say their paths have interconnected at St. John's and elsewhere since at least the 1960s. Despite strong criticism from media such as the Los Angeles Times, the church continued to block the release of details on these priests. And neither was any action taken after allegations surfaced in January of 1989 that a night watchman at the Tucson parish residence where the monsignor was living had spotted him embracing a young man on the grounds there. After Oswald asked what prompted the question, the boys unleashed in vivid detail what Trupia had done to them. Take Levada, for example. In fact, Zieman is prohibited from performing priestly duties, including conducting mass, anywhere else but at the monastery, Allison says. Gomez said that the alleged misconduct occurred while Salazar was a parish priest in the 1990s, and that the claim was never directly brought to the archdiocese. In Mahony's case, such bonds help explain why one of the most powerful hierarchs in the American Catholic church -- whose name, until recently, had been whispered as among those with a shot at becoming pope -- would go to great lengths to harbor pedophile priests while turning his back on their victims. (Sources say he is a fixture of Tucson's artsy party scene, and was even spotted recently at a karaoke bar.) The priest says that during one such session, Father X told a student that he "needed to open up more sexually" and that in an unsuccessful attempt at seduction, added, "You can't hope to understand what a mortal sin is until you commit one. A once-a-year opportunity to see the grounds of St. John's Seminary drew a crowd to the Camarillo campus on Saturday. Nason says that after he completed the sessions, he never heard from the dean and assumed that all was as well as could be expected. It was the DiMaria settlement that forced Mahony to give Sutphin and the others their walking papers in late February and early March. After seminaries in the dioceses of Tucson and Fresno were shuttered years ago, St. John's became the de facto training center for seminarians in those areas. Mahony retired as head of the archdiocese in 2011, his tenure tarnished by his handling of clergy sex abuse cases, and was replaced by Gomez, who publicly rebuked him. newsletter for analysis you wont find anywhereelse. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/la-bishop-resigns-13-years-after-diocese-learned-of-misconduct-allegation. More significantly, as part of the settlement, DiMaria forced Mahony to accept 11 conditions, including the "zero tolerance" policy toward priestly abusers. It was near Tucson that an attorney for the sex abuse victim whose court settlement gave birth to Mahony's much-ballyhooed "zero tolerance" policy deposed Ziemann in the spring of last year. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. This item is part of a JSTOR Collection. The one at the theology school is named for Edward while the other at the seminary college up the hill bears the name of his wife, Estelle. It's free, cancel anytime. [20], The number of priestly vocations declined under Mahony's leadership. Still, only 12 priests were ordained out of St. John's last year, and of them, only two were from the Los Angeles archdiocese, with its 3.6 million Roman Catholics. Our pledge is to keep original, authoritative journalism for Santa Monicans accessible to all, regardless of their means. But there was little enthusiasm by either Santa Rosa police or the local district attorney to go after a sitting Roman Catholic bishop accused of extorting one of his clerics for sex, especially when the accuser was already under suspicion of criminal activity. Instead, he was transferred to faraway Tucson to a parish and school where, astonishingly, he was assigned to teach sex education. Mahony was then appointed Bishop of Stockton in 1980. The first hint of it occurred in February of 1982, when a female housekeeper employed at the seminary college up the hill from the theology school opened a dorm room door and found Monsignor Robert Trupia -- a popular St. John's alumnus who was then a rising star in the Diocese of Tucson -- in bed with the young male student. "When Ziemann walked into a room he owned it," recalls a former St. John's colleague. All Rights Reserved. As with Mahony's harboring of predator priests with whom he has strong attachments, the Trupia story says much about the intractability of old boys' networks among Catholic prelates and why the American hierarchy seems incapable of purging its bad apples. Catalog - St. John's Seminary - Camarillo, CA The congregation investigated and permitted Bishop Salazar to remain in ministry subject to certain precautionary conditions, which he has respected, the statement said. Trupia's "Come and See" weekends, in which he sponsored young prospective seminarians from Tucson for visits to his alma mater, were legendary at St. John's during the 1980s. When Ziemann eventually found Salas to be more of a liability than he was worth, he sought to get rid of him. Sign in with a password below, or sign in using your email. Holy Communion is celebrated at both services. The Vatican announced the resignation in a one-line statement. He called Ziemann a "very holy man" and described him as "shattered" by the accusations. Mahony, who switched his sponsorship from the L.A. Archdiocese to the Diocese of Fresno before being ordained upon graduating from St. John's, was clearly the fast-track champion. He has a twin brother, Louis, and an older brother, Neil. Jose Gomez, said the archdiocese was made aware of the claim in 2005. "It would have taken him forever to climb the ladder in an archdiocese the size of L.A., whereas in Fresno he quickly became a big fish in a small pond." Law enforcement investigated and recommended prosecution, but the district attorney didnt file charges, the statement said. While they were there, the source says, they also engaged in sex. All they need is another complaint and they'll move." Numerous attempts to reach him were unsuccessful. They say they didn't press charges because they didn't want to harm the church. Salas then tells Ziemann that the bishop has given him two venereal infections. Click here. St. John's Seminary is the seminary of the Archdiocese of L.A. We form men to be. She reported her startling discovery to seminary officials, who told Cardinal Manning. We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. Father X was transferred to St. John's in 1976. In 1992, Mahony published a pastoral letter Film Makers, Film Viewers[7] on the topic of television news and the entertainment industry. It was the latest in a string of cases of alleged misconduct against bishops to come to light this year, following the scandal of ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick that exposed how bishops have largely avoided sanction for improper behavior. "Mahony and Ziemann couldn't stay away from the place," recalls an ex-seminarian. There are no homes for sale.. Real Estate Highlights in St. John's Seminary This was exacerbated with the disclosure of the relaxation of rules at the St. Louis seminariesCardinal Glennon College and Kenrick Seminaryand by the publication of Seminary in Crisis, a book by Stafford Poole, CM. ", Ziemann: "I didn't know that. Get a code sent to your email to sign in, or sign in using a password. LOS ANGELES Pope Francis has accepted the resignation of a Los Angeles auxiliary bishop, Monsignor Alexander Salazar, following an allegation of misconduct with a minor in the 1990s, officials said Wednesday. He served as a regional bishop for San Pedro, one of five pastoral subdivisions within the archdiocese, until 2009 and since then had been vicar for the office of ethnic ministries. 2016 Catholic University of America Press [1], In 2013, the archdiocese released memos Monsignor Thomas John Curry wrote to Mahony in 1986 and 1987 discussing potential legal accountability for priests, and recommending that priests should try to avoid using therapists who might report them to police. Not surprisingly, he didn't include himself in those failings. Asked if Ziemann is welcome to attend the meeting of American bishops that was to begin in Dallas on June 13, Quinn says he supposes "that he [is], but I doubt very seriously that he would attend given his circumstances." Mahony had even been the star guest at a luncheon in Wempe's honor at the hospital as recently as two years ago. At the time, Mahony wrote the director of a New Mexico treatment center, seeking to prevent accused priests from returning to the archdiocese. Gays And The Seminary - Newsweek Request Permissions, Published By: Catholic University of America Press. Below: Sex-abusing clerics and St. John's alums whom Cardinal Roger Mahony has protected. Salazar was born in San Jose, Costa Rica, and came with his family to the United States in 1953. [9] Mahony personally lobbied US Senators Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein to have the Senate consider a comprehensive immigration reform bill, rather than the enforcement-only bill that passed the House of Representatives. Then the money ran out, Sea Lion crisis prompts new "resting zone" for sick animals in Marina Del Rey, $27.4 million project for Third Street offers much needed boost to Promenade morale, As summer hits, tourism still lags from pre-pandemic highs, Proudly powered by Newspack by Automattic. It would be better in a sense if I could be here and get my life togetherI have to think of my own well-being." In fact, within months of the transfer, Green (who is now deceased), promoted Trupia to vice chancellor, which ostensibly required not only an "irreproachable reputation" but a doctorate in canon law, neither of which Trupia possessed. But he added, "That's no longer an issue. Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window). "As I Have Done for You: A Pastoral Letter on Ministry", by Cardinal Roger Mahony and the priests of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Trupia was ordained in 1973, and his first assignment upon graduating from St. John's was as associate pastor of St. Francis of Assisi church in Yuma, Arizona. Please check your inbox to confirm. Alarmed, several seminary students went to the dean to let him know about the LMU incident and "to more or less warn him that unless something was done about [Father X], there would be a mess in the press." This, after a reporter began asking questions about Wempe at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, where Mahony had stashed him as a chaplain without bothering to tell hospital officials that he was a known pedophile. Nicole Winfield, Associated Press. Stained Glass Windows. Abruptly leaving those assembled for the service in the lurch, Ziemann darted to a nearby car, and, with a colleague as his driver, sped away, leading the news people on a circular chase through the desert for more than 70 miles before holing up inside a garage at a home near the retreat. There, according to plaintiffs in a lawsuit settled in January of this year against him and three other priests (two of them now deceased), he almost immediately began molesting 11- and 12-year-old altar boys in the rectory after Sunday services. In an affidavit filed in an Orange County Superior Court case involving sex-abuse victim Ryan DiMaria, who received the settlement ($5.2 million) from the L.A. Archdiocese last year that kept Mahony off the witness stand, Nason contends that a former St. John's instructor sexually assaulted at least two of his classmates and made unwelcome sexual advances toward him. Feb 8, 2003. In 1998, Mahony testified in a civil trial against the Diocese of Stockton, in which a jury awarded $30 million to two of O'Grady's victims. On Guard: Abuse scandal changes how Catholic Church screens - KPCC After Tucson police began investigating Trupia in the summer of that year, he was shipped off to the Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C., to at last pursue doctoral studies. The archdiocese said Cardinal Roger Mahony, who was the Los Angeles archbishop at the time, requested that law enforcement review the case and he also reported the allegation to the Vaticans Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith. By NICOLE WINFIELD, Associated Press. It was pretty sick." Grace Lutheran Church [13] Gmez succeeded Mahony on February 28, 2011, after the ceremony of transition held at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, with Mahony's resignation taking canonical effect on March 1, 2011.[14]. On becoming archbishop of Los Angeles in 1985, Mahony was active in addressing sexual abuse cases. World Jun. In 1988, the Archdiocese adopted a zero-tolerance policy. CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFORMATION. Pope accepts resignation of LA bishop accused of misconduct "[34], Under canon law, as a cardinal, Mahony enjoys the "privilege of forum", meaning that only the pope is competent to judge and punish him in matters subject to ecclesiastical jurisdiction, and Gmez may only control Mahony's administrative assignments within the archdiocese. Your contribution is appreciated. This seminary was known . Before his appointment, he served as Auxiliary Bishop of Fresno from 1975 to 1980 and Bishop of Stockton from 1980 to 1985.. Born in the Hollywood district of Los Angeles and raised in the city's San Fernando . Ziemann: "It's me who's trying to protect you. But it gets more bizarre. As first reported by New Times, Mahony authorized the pay-out last August shortly before he would have been forced to testify at DiMaria's civil trial and answer potentially embarrassing questions about Ziemann, who had already been deposed by DiMaria's attorney. And that's not to mention a host of auxiliary bishops, chancellors and vicars general with ties to Mahony who are waiting in the wings to step into positions of greater authority. It wasn't until 1988 -- six years after the incident witnessed by the housekeeper -- that Trupia was banished from St. John's after an episode in the theology school's landmark bell tower that scandalized even some of the more jaded observers of his weekend forays. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. The auction raised $37.8 million, publicly earmarked for an endowment for the training of new priests. He said Ziemann routinely demanded sex once or twice a week over a two-year period, and that the encounters occurred at the bishop's residence, at hotels and even in Ziemann's diocesan office. The annual open house allowed . The pope created Mahony a cardinal in 1991, and he voted in the papal conclaves that elected Popes Benedict XVI and Francis. The statement said the archdiocese was informed of the allegation through a third party in 2005. In covering up for predator priests, Cardinal Roger Mahony has stayed true to a prestigious old boys' network of fellow alums from St. John's Seminary in Camarillo. Nov. 17, 2005 12 AM PT. About. Let us continue to stay close to the victim survivors of abuse, through our prayer and our actions.. ", But in circling the wagons to defend one of their own, church public relations agents underestimated Salas. Shortly after the Wempe mea culpa, a 34-year-old West Hollywood man walked into a sheriff's substation to file a complaint about yet another of Mahony's longtime intimates, Father Michael Baker, who is accused of molesting numerous children during more than a decade after Mahony welcomed him back to the fold in the mid-1980s despite knowing then of his history of pedophilia. Mclntyre asked how the Vincentians could run seminaries in an inconsistent fashion, to which the Vincentians replied that they would respect the wishes of the ordinary. Roger Mahony attended St. Charles Borromeo Grammar School in North Hollywood, and at age 14 entered Los Angeles College, the junior seminary of the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Levada publicly lauded Ziemann on the day he resigned his Santa Rosa post, even as the bishop insisted that the allegations against him were false. Roger Mahony - Wikipedia As it turns out, Mahony had torpedoed Baker in 1999 and kept it quiet by imposing a "confidentiality agreement" on the victims' families and their lawyers after paying them more than $1.3 million in church funds. Sunday Services - 8am & 10:15am. "Afterward, the word was that someone from LMU who was really disgusted by what he'd heard was about to tell the whole story to an L.A Times reporter." [35] Following the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, a number of Catholic groups voiced opposition to Mahony's voting in a papal conclave so soon after his censure;[36] however, Mahony participated in the conclave in March 2013. Like Mahony, he was a "lifer" who had committed to pursuing the priesthood from an early age and attended junior seminary instead of regular high school. Santa Monica's trusted source of essential news for 21 years. People listen to an interfaith prayer service for the immigrant community in Los Angeles, California on Nov. 10, 2016. Just as Manning had been Mahony's career benefactor, Mahony became Ziemann's. Yet Father X was never prosecuted criminally, and neither has any of his alleged victims filed civil claims against him. You had better take notice.'". Associated Press writer John Antczak in Los Angeles contributed to this report. Gomez said Salazar, 69, has consistently denied any wrongdoing. The archdiocese said it had received no other allegations against Salazar. Having averted criminal prosecution, Ziemann is still a Roman Catholic bishop, conducting mass and otherwise holding counsel in comfortable exile at a monastery in the Arizona desert outside Tucson. Gomez said that office, the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, imposed precautionary measures against Salazar and that a further investigation by the archdioceses independent review board found the allegation to be credible.
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