January 22, 2013
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Church sex abuse victims and their supporters are expected to blast the Roman Catholic Archdiocese and retired Cardinal Roger Mahony during a rally in Downtown Los Angeles Tuesday.
The protest is over newly released documents detailing a pattern of cover-ups.
Victims are demanding action in Tuesday's conference and asking current Archbishop Jose Gomez to publically admonish former Cardinal Roger Mahony for knowingly covering for molester priests.
The newly released documents reveal that retired Cardinal Roger Mahony and other top officials with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles tried to conceal the molestation of children from law enforcement decades ago.
The files show church leaders moved abusive priests out of state, handled damage control and consulted with accused priests behind the scenes.
The files also show that Mahony received psychological reports on some priests that mentioned the possibility of many other victims. But there is no indication that he or other church leaders investigated further.
The news conference scheduled for Tuesday was organized by Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
Joelle Casteix of SNAP says the documents confirm that young victims have been telling the truth all along.