Cardinal Mahony was stripped of public duties following revelations he protected accused priests
BBC News
08 MARCH 2013
While their former archbishop takes part in the conclave to choose the next pope, Catholics in Los Angeles deal with his complicated legacy. Will clergy sexual abuse - and its cover-up by church elders - harm the Church beyond repair?
The Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverley Hills has seen a few popes come and go. This pretty Spanish mission-style church has been here since 1923.
Hollywood stars have been married in front of its altar. The funerals of Rudolph Valentino, Frank Sinatra and Alfred Hitchcock were held here.
Today its congregation is diverse: no famous faces in sight, but a mix of old and young, rich and poor, white and Hispanic - a mirror of the wider Catholic population.
Here in the City of Angels, 40% of the population is Catholic. The Los Angeles Archdiocese is the largest in the US, representing five million souls.
It is also one of the most shaken by the crisis of clergy sexual abuse.
As the church leadership calls for prayers for the cardinal-electors in Rome, the congregants share a widespread concern among American Catholics that the leadership needs first to reform itself.
"Growing up in the Church, they said ''fess up to your sins and then move on'," says Francisco, a film producer. "That's what the Church needs to do."