Bishop Moves to Reassure Catholics

Bishop Tod D. Brown assured parishioners and clergy in Orange County on Monday that the Roman Catholic Church is “taking every possible step” to prevent sexual abuse of children by priests in scandals like those revealed in recent weeks.

“The church has become, for some, a place where [children] were hurt, not healed,” Brown told hundreds of worshipers--including about 200 Orange County priests--gathered at St. Columban Church in Garden Grove for the annual Chrism Mass. “The church must be the safest place for all.”

The annual event, during which the bishop blesses the oil used by priests in sacraments, is part of Holy Week, which culminates in Easter Sunday.

It was the second time in as many days Brown had spoken publicly on the scandal.

In a Palm Sunday sermon, he urged the church to take responsibility for the “terrible, terrible crimes” committed by priests against children and to seek forgiveness for wayward clergymen. On Monday, Brown expanded considerably on those remarks, this time speaking to the priests themselves.

“We have seen that attacks on the innocent and vulnerable do not just happen in distant places,” he said, “but here in our own church. This is a painful reality.... We’ve been doing a great deal of soul-searching of late. We have had to ask, in tears and anger, who are we that these things have happened among us, these dark things among men we thought we knew?”

He drew a standing ovation and extended applause for the priests in attendance after appealing to parishioners for their support and understanding. “The scars of these trespasses are not easily healed,” Brown said. “They break our hearts. The recent events have affected our priests very deeply--I appreciate the honesty with which they have [responded.] I am proud of them and I hope that you are too.”

In an interview later, the bishop said that he felt it imperative to respond. “It was on everyone’s mind,” he said of the reported sexual misconduct by priests, including some in Orange County. “It needed to be addressed. I wanted to assure people that we are aware of the problem and doing everything we can to address it.”

Some priests at Monday’s service echoed Brown’s sentiments.

“I think it was good that he said something about it,” said Father Bruce Lavery, pastor at St. Timothy Church in Laguna Niguel. “Most people know that it’s a small percentage of the clergy ... but he was personally hurt by it, and he can feel that we are hurt by it too.”

Father John McAndrew of St. Angela Merici Church in Brea also applauded the bishop’s openness. “He handled it forthrightly,” McAndrew said. “It had to be done--putting the victims first is the way we need to go.”