Cardinal Roger Mahony, 89, the retired Archbishop of Los Angeles, is one of nine cardinals who will help close Pope Francis' casket and entomb his remains for his burial, the Vatican announced.

Mahony was head of the Los Angeles archdiocese from 1985 to 2011, when Gomez succeeded him. "I find these files to be brutal and painful reading," Gomez wrote in a letter to parishioners.