The archbishop's words were read by church leaders at Sunday masses across the city, the Los Angeles Times reported (http://lat.ms/YuH4rb). The letter was made public late last week.

Gomez said the church needs to acknowledge the "terrible failure" of its handling of abuse cases.

At St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood, parishioner Eric Nielsen praised Gomez for addressing the issue.

"I take my hat off to the archbishop," said Nielsen, 52. "He got on the ball and did what needed to be done."

But Nielsen told the Times he would probably stop attending the church, where he's worshipped since 1981, because he was upset by the child abuse scandal.

"It's a shame," he said.

On Thursday, Gomez stripped his predecessor Cardinal Roger Mahony of his administrative duties for failing to take swift action against abusive priests.

In a letter posted on his personal blog Friday, Mahony challenged Gomez for publicly shaming him and said he developed policies to safeguard children after taking over in 1985, despite being unequipped to deal with the molester priests he inherited.

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