OC Diocese Priorities: Surfers and Facebook Yes Sex abuse Victims No, Gustavo Arellano, Orange County Weekly, September 3, 2009

OC Diocese Priorities: Surfers and Facebook, Yes; Sex-abuse Victims, No

By Gustavo Arellano
Orange County Weekly
September 3, 2009

http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/wax-on-wax-off/oc-diocese-priorities-surfers/

Priorities, priorities, priorities: The Catholic Diocese of Orange is already heavily promoting the Blessing of the Waves, an easy stab at a national feel-good story they began last year than involves surfers, priests, and prayer at Huntington Beach. "In Orange County our beaches are more than simple geography, they are the cultural and spiritual center of our community. It is important that we recognize this common element in all our lives, regardless of faith tradition," read the event's Facebook page, and ain't it great Bishop Tod D. Brown finds money to pay someone to post status updates and none to invite victims of his pedophile priests to speak before parishioners (hell, they'll do it for free but have never received an invite)?

Waves are fine and all, but the Diocese has more pressing spiritual needs than to thank God for His infinite A-frames. Brown has officially held ONE service in honor of sex-abuse victims, a service quickly exposed as a sham. And diocesan attorney Peter Callahan never got around to apologize for shouting down a sex-abuse victim after she won a settlement against a Mater Dei high choir teacher (no, not this one: ANOTHER one). Religious hypocrisy? Betcha the surfers who attend this Blessing of the Waves won't care, just like 90 percent of all Catholics...wait, my apologies, Catholics. I meant 95...

E-mail: GARELLANO@OCWEEKLY.COM