Cardinal Roger Mahony, a vocal leader of the marches against congressional attempts to crackdown on illegal immigration, does not support a planned student and worker boycott on May 1.
Ever the politician, Mahony consistently talks out of both sides of his mouth at once. Do I, a lapsed Catholic, sound cynical? After years of watching Mahony lie, evade, and conceal on the priestly pedophilia issue, you betcha. But time is now running out for him on that.
Supremes to Mahony: turn over the files.
Cardinal Roger M. Mahony must turn over to L.A. prosecutors the personnel files of two priests accused of molestation after the U.S. Supreme Court today declined to hear his request to keep them private.
He spoke at the May 10 immigrant rights rally in LA. His first sentence was “If you are carrying a flag that is not the American flag, we ask that you roll it up.” The rest of his speech was like that; distant, remote, and cold. He seemed scarely a Man of God offering aid to those who might need it, rather he was a grumpy politician, ordering people to do as he demanded, dimly aware that his base had gotten away from him. Organizers of this march, and the Church was a major player, wanted it to be a silent vigil march with no placards and no flags that were not American.
Instead, the march was noisy, with lots of placards and more than a few non-US flags among the thousands of US flags. (Last time I checked Irish and Italian parades in the US fly their flags, and the British bars in LA sure show theirs. So why all the hubbub about non-US flags at immigrant rights demos?)
When you call a demo and ask/demand that people do something, and instead they do the opposite, then clearly events have moved beyond you.
My original post on the April 10 March was polite to Mahony even though I felt differently, thinking he’d actually support the immigrants. But his support, it’s now clear, is talk with no action of substance.