IS THIS A JOB FOR ANDY SIPOWICZ?

Cardinal Roger M. Mahony. I've never met the man. I've never interviewed the man. Like most of the rest of you, I only know what I read.

For the uninformed, Cardinal Roger M. Mahony is what you might call a powerful religious leader. Make that a VERY powerful religious leader.

What we've been reading about the good Cardinal recently is his support for illegal immigrants. And if the reports are correct, something about Cardinal Mahony providing shelter and other services for illegal immigrants.

Mercy. Lending a helping hand by providing shelter. All very church-like. And on the surface, totally cool. Some would say that Cardinal Mahony is providing "cover" for people who are breaking the law, but come on, now. Isn't helping the "needy" what churches DO?!?

Okay, let's talk about this providing "cover" business for other lawbreakers by Cardinal Mahony, his church and for that matter, OTHER Cardinals in this country. For the record, we're talking about Cardinal Mahony, but he ain't the only Cardinal, folks.

What about priests who are pedophiles? A fancy word for being a child molester. We're not talking about ONE wayward priest, we're talking about a LOT of "wayward" priests who have been, and in some cases, maybe still ARE under some sort of supervision by Cardinal Mahony or other officers of the church. We KNOW about 45 cases in which children have been molested by a so-called person of God. And we know that person (priest) had or has ties to the archdiocese presided over by Cardinal Mahony. We know that the 45 victims are collectively being paid $60 million or so and we're told that FIVE HUNDRED (or more) charges/claims are still out there.

I could go on and on, but what should happen to these despicable child abusing so-called representatives of God is (to me) quite simple. Lock 'em up and put 'em in a cell with someone who's been convicted of rape. I can imagine this scenario; "Hello, Father. Forgive me, for I am about to sin."

But what we're TOLD has happened (in many cases), is that priests who have abused children have been given counseling of some kind or sent to other locales where while supposedly getting their acts together have (in some cases) abused children AGAIN!

When law enforcement authorities have tried to look into these cases, what they're often told gives obfuscation new meaning. Over and over again.

Simply put, too many child molesters have been given "cover" by the church. Again, he's not alone, but in this case, Cardinal Mahony's church. And yeah, I'm using the phrase "too many" when in fact, ONE child molesting priest is too many. I mean, if you're a KID and you can't trust a man who claims to represent GOD?!?

So let's see what we've got here. A church that's presided over by Cardinal Mahony who appears to have given "cover" to criminal priests and who also appears to be giving "cover" to criminal immigrants. Before you yell at me, until the law is changed, being an illegal immigrant is a criminal act.

And no, no, no!!! CAPITAL N-O!!! I'm not equating the two. I'm drawing a parallel. "Cover" for law breakers and this appearing to be something coincidental. Or is it a pattern?

In the case of the priests, this seems to be pretty cut-and-dried to me. Why hasn't someone in law enforcement seen fit to have an official "conversation" with Cardinal Mahony? A law enforcement guy who would remind us all of the fictional Detective Andy Sipowicz who was played so brilliantly by Dennis Franz on NYPD Blue.

Unless something else comes up, our headline topic tomorrow will be about "teasing".