LOS ANGELES -- Cardinal Roger Mahony of Los Angeles criticized abortion in his invocation Monday to the Democratic National Convention, most of whose delegates favor abortion rights.

The convention hall was silent and few delegates were present when Mahony asked God to "keep us ever committed to protect the life and well-being of all people but especially unborn children, the sick and the elderly, those on skid row and those on death row."

Mahony, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Los Angeles, said he hoped candidates would embody values that "protect all human life."

Four years ago in Chicago, that city's Cardinal Joseph Bernardin declined to speak to the Democrats' convention. So did New York's Cardinal John O'Connor in 1984 and 1992.

Their decisions were widely perceived as reactions to Democratic support of abortion rights.

"He's a religious man ... and that is their position," Bob Mulholland, spokesman for the California Democratic Party and a fellow Catholic, said of Mahony.

The Democratic Party, he said, remains "overwhelmingly pro-choice."