‘We feel betrayed by our church’

In 1992, a de­voutly Cath­ol­ic moth­er from the San Gab­ri­el Val­ley wrote Car­din­al Ro­ger Ma­hony ask­ing for help with a pain­ful situ­ation “no hu­man be­ing should be asked to en­dure.” Her ad­op­ted son had mo­les­ted his young­er broth­er and, when con­fron­ted, had dis­closed that he him­self had been ab­used by a mem­ber of a re­li­gious or­der at a Cath­ol­ic orphan­age in Rose­mead. “How can we teach him to trust and have faith in his God in heav­en if God’s people on earth aren’t teach­ing him and liv­ing it them­selves,” she asked.