L.A. Religious Orders Release Personnel files Under 2007 Clergy Abuse Settlement

The Los Angeles Times reports that on Wednesday, 1700 pages of personnel files from 5 Los Angeles area Catholic religious orders were made public pursuant to a 2007 settlement with hundreds of sexual abuse claimants. Files were released by the Marianists, the Benedictines, the Oblates and two orders of nuns-- the Cabrini Sisters and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondele.  An additional 45 religious orders will release files in the coming months. Many of the files do not mention abuse allegations, or refer to them only obliquely.  According to the Times:

In the case of Benedictine priest Mathias Faue [full text of file], one supervisor wrote vaguely of “his problem” or “difficulty.” In the file of Oblate Father Ruben Martinez [full text of file], an order official repeatedly switched to Japanese characters to note sensitive subjects, including his admissions of “homosexuality” and “relations with boys.”