- Title: ITALY/VATICAN: Italy Catholics want cardinal out of conclave
- Date: 19th February 2013
- Summary: VARIOUS OF SWISS GUARDS DIRECTING TRAFFIC AT VATICAN GATE VARIOUS OF CARDINAL RENATO MARTINO ARRIVING FOR PRAYER VARIOUS OF ANOTHER CARDINAL ARRIVING FOR PRAYER CARDINAL GIANFRANCO RAVASI ARRIVING CARDINAL EDWIN O'BRIEN ARRIVING CARDINAL FRANCIS ARINGE ARRIVING VATICAN GATES
- Embargoed: 6th March 2013 12:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Vatican City State, Italy
- City:
- Country: Italy Vatican City State
- Topics: Religion
- Reuters ID: LVA2Z0I8FA5Q99OA27CCTOQI1ZQ1
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- Story Text: Italian Catholics call for a U.S. cardinal accused of covering up sexual abuse by priests to be banned from the conclave. Italian Catholics have called for a U.S. cardinal accused of covering up sexual abuse by priests not to take part in electing a new pope, saying he would taint the new pontiff with the same scandal that dogged Benedict.
Mahony, who was stripped of all public duties after being linked to efforts to conceal child sex abuse by priests, said that he planned to participate in the process to elect the pope's successor.
Italian Catholics have called for Mahony not to take part in electing a new pope.
"We can certainly say that there are different points of view. There is one faction of Cardinals who don't appreciate the fact that Mahony was accused in this way," said ANSA's Vatican Journalist Fausto Gasparroni.
"But there are also Cardinals who now think that his presence would stain this conclave and his presence might also prejudice the next Pope who will be elected. So some feel that it would be better if Mahony didn't take part," said ANSA's Vatican journalist Fausto Gasparroni.
But another journalist said cardinal Mahony might not be the only one in this situation.
"I mean I don't think anybody would be able to say - 'You can't come in to this conclave' because, probably if you scratch the surface hard enough you would probably come up with a number of other Cardinals who are in a similar situation and maybe did the same thing," said Reuters Vatican Correspondent Phillip Pullella.
"Mahony is now the flavour of the month for the media because basically this case is very recent but there may be others who also had some problems with the administration of sexual abuse cases in their diocese," Pullella added.
Italy's best-selling magazine Famiglia Cristiana - "Christian Family" - asked its readers whether Roger Mahony, archbishop of Los Angeles until 2011, should attend the conclave that elects a successor to Pope Benedict next month - and the overwhelming answer was "no".
The magazine, a weekly popular among churchgoers and very influential in Italy, took up the charge after the U.S. group Catholics United launched a signature drive against Mahony and asked its own readers to vote yes or no.
As archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985, Mahony worked to send priests known to be abusers out of state to shield them law enforcement scrutiny in the 1980s, according to church files unsealed under a U.S. court order last month.
Although his successor, Archbishop Jose Gomez, removed him from all public and administrative duties after that, Mahony has announced his intention to fly to Rome where he would be among 117 cardinals allowed into the Vatican's Sistine Chapel to vote for the next leader of the world's 1.2 billion Catholics. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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