Cardinal Mahony critical of Gov. Keating's statement
LOS ANGELES (AP) One of the most powerful Roman Catholic leaders in the nation said in an interview published Friday that he may ask fellow bishops to consider removing former Oklahoma Gov. Frank Keating as head of a national panel reviewing priest abuse allegations.
Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony said he was outraged by a statement that Keating made this week comparing some unnamed members of the church heirarchy to the Mafia.
''All I can say is, from the bishops I've listened to and several called me this morning this is the last straw,'' Mahony told the Los Angeles Times. ''To make statements such as these I don't know how he can continue to have the support of the bishops. I don't know how you back up from this.''
The bishops meet next week in St. Louis, and Mahony told the newspaper he is considering raising the question of whether Keating, a former FBI agent and federal prosecutor, should remain in his appointed role as head of the National Review Board.
Keating had told the Times earlier this week: ''I certainly have concluded that a number of serious officials in my faith have very clay feet. To act like La Cosa Nostra and hide and suppress, I think, is very unhealthy.'
[Full Story]
I don't think Keating's statement was that over the top. He was not comparing some members of the episcopacy to the Mafia but to one specific behavior of the Mafia. It might not have been a prudent statement but I think that Cardinal Mahony doth protests too much. This reporter needs an editor or a spellchecker since he misspelled hierarchy. Maybe a heirarchy is where you are governed by your relatives.
Known as 
Cardinal Mahony and his kind are the one's who should resign, not Frank Keating.The arrogance of Mahony and many U.S. Catholic Bishops is maddening.Those who have participated in cover-ups and have witheld information from authorities are a disgrace. The Vatican,clueless as ever, should remove these clerics from their posts immediately.Pompous blowhards like Mahony should be investigated, indicted and tried for aiding and abetting criminal behavior.
I agree, Mahoney should resign. The Church is full of secret sins. They supress and resist their parishioners. It is really unfortunate that so many are being misled by the Catholic Church. I use to attend the Catholic church, teach the 5 grade and Confirmation classes. No more. I cannot support such a corrupt Church. I am very glad that the Church is being exposed for what it really is...just another big organization to make money from the poor.
If tomorrow the pope were to wear a three piece business suit, leave his luxurious palace at Castel Gondolfo, and tell everyone that the Roman church is over, the Catholic churches would be packed next Sunday out of curiosity instead of stupidity. Roger Mahoney-the-phony would hop a plane to Rome and tell the world he has come home.