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	Brom's Gambit Union-Tribune [San Diego CA] February 20, 2007 http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070220/news_lz1ed20bottom.html Considered in isolation, San Diego Bishop Robert Brom's warning that his diocese might seek bankruptcy protection from lawsuits alleging sexual abuse by priests likely inspires sympathy for the diocese and the nearly 1 million Catholics it serves in San Diego and Imperial counties. After all, Brom paired his warning with another apology to abuse victims: "I am profoundly sorry for this betrayal of trust in your lives. ... [In] the name of the church, I beg your forgiveness." But there is a long history here. Brom's remarks cannot be considered in isolation. Instead, it is not cynical but painfully honest to assume that the bankruptcy warning is more of a legal and public relations tactic than anything else. It is a matter of record that the diocese faces 150 lawsuits, which could force it to pay out claims of perhaps $200 million, based on precedent. But while this is a staggering sum, it is hardly beyond the means of the diocese, which could sell off some of its unusually diverse real estate holdings, including commercial projects, apartment buildings, condominium complexes and undeveloped land. When Brom says the lawsuits threaten the diocese's "overall mission," is he suggesting that includes being a force in local real estate and development? But our concerns go beyond questions about diocese assets. The fact is Brom's own actions raise repeated questions about his sincerity in making amends for priests' molestations and rapes. Consider his embrace of the most notorious of the legal tactics of Los Angeles Roman Catholic Cardinal Roger Mahony: arguing that communications between church leaders and priests involving sexual abuse were "privileged" and thus could be kept from police and prosecutors. Or juxtapose what Brom wrote in his bankruptcy warning – "While only a few among us have been guilty of abuse, all of us have suffered the shame" – with the case of the Rev. Edward Anthony Rodrigue. Brom seeks to reframe this scandal as one in which the Catholic Church is the victim – betrayed by rogue pervert priests. Instead, as many cases show, Catholic officials were directly responsible for thousands of new molestations because of their practice of transferring priests facing abuse allegations instead of notifying local police. That was the case with Rodrigue, who admitted to preying on boys regularly for 24 years, many spent in San Diego and Imperial counties. A boy who called the San Diego diocese in 1975 to report Rodrigue was told "not to say such things." This is appalling – and 32 years later, echoes of this mind-set remain. The diocese still wishes people weren't saying such things, and it knows a bankruptcy filing would automatically delay them from doing so in several already-delayed clergy-abuse trials. Yes, the area's nearly 1 million Catholics deserve sympathy, but not their diocese. Enough is enough. If settlement talks hit an impasse, it is time for the accusers' allegations to be heard by a judge and jury – not stalled by another dubious tactic by a diocese that has long since forfeited any claim to the moral high ground.
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