Mahony Used Money of Dead in Abuse Lawsuits; Used $115M from Cemetery Fund to Settle Suits

Pressed to come up with hundreds of millions of dollars to settle clergy sex abuse lawsuits, Cardinal Roger Mahony turned to one group of Catholics whose faith could not be shaken: the dead. This secretive, deceptive, and horrific means of obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars was revealed by the Los Angeles Times today (February 10, 2013).

Under Mahony's leadership in 2007, the Archdiocese of Los Angeles quietly appropriated $115 million from a cemetery maintenance fund and used it to help pay a landmark settlement with molestation victims of Catholic clergy.

The church did not inform relatives of the deceased that it had taken the money, which amounted to 88 percent of the fund. Families of those buried in church-owned cemeteries and interred in its mausoleums have contributed to a dedicated account for the perpetual care of graves, crypts, and grounds since the 1890s.

Mahony and other church officials also did not mention the cemetery fund in numerous public statements about how the archdiocese planned to cover the $660-million abuse settlement. In detailed presentations to parish groups, the cardinal and his aides said they had "cashed in substantial investments" to pay the settlement, but they did not disclose that the main asset liquidated was cemetery money.