L.A. cardinal ‘mystified’ by federal investigation

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony said Thursday he was “mystified and puzzled” by a federal grand jury investigation into the handling of alleged clergy child molestation cases by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles.

Mahony told KNX radio that he would gladly testify before a grand jury, but that he believed investigators were looking into issues that have been thoroughly dealt with.

“Well, basically we were mystified and puzzled by the whole thing,” Mahony said. “We have been through these investigations for years now.”

Mahony said 22 priests were named in a federal subpoena of documents from the archdiocese but none were still in the priesthood.

“Two are dead, the other 20 have returned to the lay state and are long gone,” Mahony said.

On its Web site Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times quoted two anonymous law enforcement sources as saying Mahony is among those being investigated by the grand jury to determine if he failed to keep children safe from predatory priests.

The Los Angeles Archdiocese, the nation’s largest, reached a $660 million settlement with more than 500 alleged victims of clergy abuse in July 2007. The settlement is the largest on record.

At the time, Mahony apologized for what he called a “terrible sin and crime” and said such abuse should never happen again.

Mahony’s attorney, J. Michael Hennigan, told The Associated Press on Wednesday the archdiocese was fully cooperating with the probe, and he criticized the government for leaking the information.