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Catholics Grapple With Mixed Feelings on Church Scandals

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TIMES STAFF WRITERS

Southland Roman Catholics wrestled with conflicting feelings about the sexual-abuse scandal rocking their church, while several priests used their pulpit Sunday to direct harsh words at the media for its reporting on the allegations.

In the first congregational gatherings since an accusation against Cardinal Roger M. Mahony surfaced Friday, some of the homilies tailored around the story of “Doubting Thomas” were laced with skepticism on the means and motives of those who revealed the details of the allegation.

Two priests implied that the media had stolen a series of internal church e-mails, which contained a Fresno woman’s unproved allegation of abuse by Mahony 32 years ago, as well as the prelate’s ruminations on what he called his archdiocese’s “huge mistake” for not promptly revealing to authorities the names of priests accused of molesting minors. Eight priests had been fired in February, but as recently as March 27, the hierarchy had not provided authorities with full identification of three of the accused.

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“The church is being persecuted by the media,” the Rev. Msgr. Padraic Loftus of St. Mel Parish in Woodland Hills told about 300 parishioners. “They didn’t let up during Holy Week .... Our cardinal is viciously attacked and publicly humiliated. One must ask why? .... Is it a deep-seated anti-Catholic attitude? Is it prejudice? Is it even hatred?”

Loftus asked the congregants to deal with the issue through “prayer, education, justice, healing, forgiveness and compassion.”

“It’s not only the abused who suffer,” Loftus said. “Our cardinal is also suffering greatly. Priests who have dedicated their whole lives are suffering. All Catholics are suffering because the church is the body of Christ.”

Parishioners gave Loftus mixed reviews. “I was hoping he [Loftus] would take full responsibility before he blamed others,” said Wayne Bradshaw of Woodland Hills, who has been attending St. Mel’s with his wife and young daughter for three years. “To point it at the media is a little shaky.”

Jack Trabold, a Woodland Hills resident and 23-year St. Mel’s parishioner, dismissed the Fresno woman’s allegations that Mahony molested her 32 years ago, and praised the cleric’s handling of the larger scandal. “Mahony is doing a good job,” Trabold said. “It’s a tough spot to be in.”

Trabold’s comments on the newest allegations were echoed Sunday by congregants from Camarillo to Balboa Island. The woman who made the charges told The Times that she suffered from schizophrenia, and her accounts of the alleged incident were short on detail.

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A priest who first heard the woman’s allegations told the Associated Press on Sunday he believes the claim is false.

“She claimed that happened with 40 different youths watching,” said Msgr. John Esquivel after leading mass at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno. “There’s no way that is going to happen in front of all those people. I don’t believe the allegations are true.”

Esquivel could not be reached for comment.

The vicar at Eagle Rock’s St. Dominic Church, the Rev. Christopher Terry accused the media of “yellow journalism” for its treatment of the accusations against the cardinal, according to a parishioner. The e-mails that revealed the Mahony allegation were stolen, he added, though he did not specify by whom, the parishioner reported.

At Padre Serra Catholic Church in Camarillo, a visiting priest, who briefly referred to the scandal during his sermon, afterward berated media outlets for publicizing the Mahony e-mails, which were obtained by radio station KFI, and passed on to the Los Angeles Times. The archdiocese took The Times to court late Thursday in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent their publication.

“I’m really mad at the L.A. Times,” said the priest, who requested anonymity. “Those e-mails are stolen property. To take something that is protected under attorney-client privilege is wrong.”

During the two masses he celebrated at St. John Vianney Chapel on Balboa Island in Newport Beach, Msgr. Lawrence J. Baird, who was accused of an improper sexual advance toward a female parishioner, frequently alluded to the scandal, comparing it to a “crisis in faith” similar to the stubborn doubtfulness of St. Thomas.

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Baird thanked the congregation for its supportive e-mails, phone calls and letters, but did not address the accusations made against him and later refused to comment further on it. “The statement I made at the press conference earlier this week is the only comment I’m making,” Baird said between services.

The allegations were leveled last week by Lori Haigh, who won a million-dollar settlement from the Catholic Church last Monday for a relationship she had with a priest 20 years ago while she was a minor. Haigh says Baird kissed, hugged and rubbed against her after she reported the relationship to him.

A high-profile spokesman for the Diocese of Orange, Baird has denied the allegations and threatened Haigh with a defamation of character lawsuit, saying he did not remember meeting her and did not engage in inappropriate contact with anyone.

“I do not believe it at all,” Rose Gramme, 42, said of the accusations leveled at the popular Baird. “He’s not like that. He would never do anything like that. He’s well-educated, articulate and truthful.”

Joan Marie Fredericks, 81, said she was appalled with the way the church is handling sexual-abuse allegations. “This has been going on such a long time,” said Fredericks, of Michigan, who was visiting her son’s family. “They haven’t responded quick enough. Those priests who committed those terrible sins, and took away children’s innocence, they should have been stopped years and years ago.”

In Santa Monica, the Rev. Paul Fitzpatrick cautioned about 400 parishioners at St. Monica’s Church. “Don’t judge too quick--be open.”

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As they shuffled out of the church, many parishioners said they were content with how the matter was being handled by their parish and the archdiocese.

“I don’t doubt my faith or my church because of this,” said John Vanderloop, a retired mechanic in Santa Monica. “Within the church walls, everyone is talking about it, examining what has gone on--that’s a good thing,” he said. “There are so many more positive things that the priests have done quietly, out of the public eye, with no attention. You have some who are flawed, they need to be dealt with, but that doesn’t take away from all of the good so many have done.”

The Rev. Marc Trudeau told a congregation of more than 700 people at St. Pius X in Santa Fe Springs, “This is painful for all of us, but the important thing is that we always know what our mission is. The end will be positive, and like Cardinal Mahony said, it will be a ‘purification of the church.’”

For parishioner Sandra Garcia of Santa Fe Springs, the process can’t move fast enough. “I want to see it resolved and get back to normal. I’m tired about hearing all the bad things that people are saying about the Catholic Church,” Garcia said.

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Times staff writers Kurt Streeter, Tim Hughes and Manuel Gamiz Jr. contributed to this report.

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