SACRAMENTO (CA)
ChurchMilitant.com
August 8, 2018
by Anita Carey
Court documents from sex abuse lawsuits are exposing the extent to which several California bishops covered up for serial abusers, while faithful Catholics are outraged that known gay priests are still being protected.
Court documents released in the 2005 settlement show Sacramento Bp. Jaime Soto, Bp. William Johnson, then-auxiliary Bp. Michael Driscoll (all in the diocese of Orange) and Tijuana bishop Emilio Berlie all knew and covered up for priests known to be abusers.
By 2009, the diocese of Orange had the distinction of doling out the third-highest payout to victims of sexual abuse in the U.S. Church, topped only by two other California dioceses: Los Angeles and San Diego. In the mid-2000s, these three dioceses alone were ordered to pay over $1 billion to almost 800 victims.
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