Church Abuse Case: Documents illuminate Calif. diocese attitude

Orange County, California --

The Rio Grande Valley, like other parts of the United States, has seen allegations of clergy members preying on members of their congregations. And South Texas, as elsewhere, has also encountered Roman Catholic Church officials more concerned with sweeping such incidents under the rug than with justice and preventing further crimes.

So it’s interesting to read about church documents released as part of a settlement of a sexual abuse lawsuit in Orange County, Calif.

As expected, many of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange’s once- secret personnel files were released on Tuesday, and the facts inside the files prove what church critics have long argued: Church leaders knew about priests who had molested and raped children, yet they continued to let them serve as priests where they could continue to prey on the youngest, most vulnerable members of the community.

Orange Bishop Tod Brown called the documents "painful testimony" and earlier responses by the diocese "inadequate and failed."

Read the article at The Monitor dated May 20, 2005

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