A bombshell from the Catholic Church.Retired cardinal Roger Mahony is relieved of his remaining duties with the Archdiocese of Los Angeles.
It comes as the Church releases 12,000 documents from files on priests accused of sexual abuse.
Records show Mahony worked for years to conceal molestation by the clergy from law enforcement.
Archbishop of Los Angeles Jose Gomez released a statement late Thursday.
He says in part:
"My predecessor, Retired Cardinal Roger Mahony, has expressed his sorrow for his failure to fully protect young people entrusted to his care. Effective immediately, I have informed Cardinal Mahony that he will no longer have any administrative or public duties."
Mahony was in the Fresno Diocese for 16 years, serving the last five as auxiliary bishop.
He was a spiritual leader to thousands of Valley Catholics.
“I think it's wonderful that he's going to pay for what he was obviously guilty of,” said Jill Lanford of Fresno.
“I just know that he has a lot of respect and thought of very highly in the Fresno community,” said Steven Cloud of Fresno.
The Archdiocese went on to say,
"We need to acknowledge that terrible failure today. We need to pray for everyone who has ever been hurt by members of the church. And we need to continue to support the long and painful process of healing their wounds and restoring the trust that was broken."
CBS 47 reached out to the Diocese of Fresno.
So far, no comment.
