Cody helped clear priest, 14 March 1969 story

Rev. Leo Mahon, 42, a Chicago priest, was cleared of heresy charges in February of 1968 in Panama, where he had founded an experimental parish as part of a Latin American outreach sponsored by the Chicago archdiocese, according to Overview, newsletter of the Chicago-based Thomas More Association. (Catholic press veteran Dan Herr was publisher.)

It was a “misunderstanding,” said Rev. John Ring, associate chairman of the archdiocesan Latin American Committee. “Practically nothing.”

A “grossly unfair” story, said the Chicago chancery, denying everything.

A “quite serious” matter, another archdiocesan source told the Daily News.

The papal nuncio to Panama had wanted Mahon out of the country, but the local archbishop and Cardinal Cody had taken Mahon’s side, the latter supplying support that was decisive, according to Overview.

A panel of bishops in a “heresy trial” found Mahon’s operation only “pedagogically” lacking, said Ring. Mahon made changes to suit the bishops.

His…