Bishop of Orange Unveils ‘Covenant’ to Heal

In the latest attempt to repair damage caused by the Roman Catholic sexual abuse scandal, Bishop Tod D. Brown on Thursday unveiled a “historic new covenant” to foster an era of honesty, humility and power sharing within the Orange County diocese.

He also dedicated the coming Lenten season to expressing remorse for the church’s sins and praying for sexual abuse victims and their families.

“I know that I can never fully atone for the hurt inflicted by those who are guilty, but as the bishop of Orange, I can do penance, and I will,” Brown said at a press conference in Garden Grove to announce the “Covenant With the Faithful,” which makes seven pledges to help heal the church and its people in Orange County.

“And I can beg for forgiveness,” he added, “and I will continue to do so.”

The message and the seven-part plan were crafted with the help of the Softness Group, a public relations firm hired by the diocese for $90,000, officials said.

Some victims and their advocates said Brown’s proposal was a ploy to lower the compensation value of 50 sexual abuse lawsuits in the Orange diocese, being mediated behind closed doors.

“It seems like the same kind of promises they’ve given and broken before,” said Ryan DiMaria, who received $5.2 million from the dioceses of Orange and Los Angeles in 2001 to settle a molestation lawsuit. A Costa Mesa attorney, he now represents other sexual abuse plaintiffs. “It’s a thinly veiled attempt to get public support.”

Brown said the covenant was needed because the diocese hadn’t done enough to respond to the scandal.

In his speech, Brown said the 2-year-old sex scandal has turned into “a disgraceful cavalcade” of priests who repeatedly molested minors. He asked that leaders who kept acknowledged pedophiles in ministry be held accountable and vowed that his role as bishop would be redefined to be less autocratic.

He said the laity would be part of governing councils at both the parish and diocesan level. And he promised to meet more frequently with clergy and better listen to their concerns.

The bishop’s covenant makes seven pledges: to help heal sexual abuse victims; rigorously implement sexual abuse policies; heal the hurt among clergy, laity and others who have been “humiliated, scorned and disgraced” by the scandal; empower laity and others in the diocese to help govern the church; be honest with the news media; restore confidence in bishops; and rededicate the diocese to the care of the entire county, especially the disenfranchised and the poor.