Roger Mahony

Roger Mahony

Roger Michael Mahony KGCHS (born February 27, 1936) is an American cardinal and retired prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as Archbishop of Los Angeles from 1985–2011. Before his appointment as Los Angeles archbishop, he served as Auxiliary Bishop of Fresno from 1975–1980 and as Bishop of Stockton from 1980–1985.

Born in the Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles and raised in the city's San Fernando Valley area, Mahony was ordained to the priesthood in the Diocese of Monterey-Fresno in 1962. He was appointed auxiliary bishop of the Diocese of Fresno in January 1975 and consecrated bishop in March 1975. He was then appointed Bishop of Stockton in 1980. In 1985, Mahony was appointed Archbishop of Los Angeles by Pope John Paul II, and became the first Los Angeles native to hold the office. He was made a cardinal in 1991.

During his tenure as Los Angeles archbishop, Mahony was instrumental in dividing the archdiocese into 5 administrative subdivisions, and oversaw the construction of the new Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels, which opened in 2002. He has also been an instrumental figure in the Catholic Church sexual abuse scandal. As a cardinal, Mahony voted in the 2005 papal conclave that elected Pope Benedict XVI. He reached the mandatory retirement age for bishops in 2011 and was succeeded by José Horacio Gómez on March 1, 2011.