judge weighs extent of priest file redaction

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http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CALIFORNIA_CHURCH_ABUSE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-01-07-04-19-13

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- A judge is weighing whether to change an order that would allow the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles to black out the names of church higher-ups - including recently retired Cardinal Roger Mahony - when it releases thousands of pages of personnel files on priests accused of child molestation.

Attorneys for the archdiocese say they plan to make the confidential files public by the middle of this month with the names of the church hierarchy blacked out, as allowed by a 2010 order by another judge who was appointed to oversee the process.

The Associated Press and the Los Angeles Times intervened in the case in December and argued in court papers that the redactions will prevent the public from learning which church officials knew about abusive priests, how much they knew and how they handled it. Files released in other dioceses, such as Boston, have shown that the church shuffled priests among parishes without calling police.

The judge will hear oral arguments Monday and could issue a ruling.