The Cowardly Bishop Tod Brown
Apologies for the redundant title, but it's true, especially in light of the Diocese of Orange leader's decision to tell his fellow Bishop, Geoffrey Robinson, to stay away from the county.
A bit of background: Robinson is the former Bishop of Sydney who resigned his position after publicly criticizing the church hierarchy for their cover-up in the rape of innocents, of which he was one. He was invited by the Orange County chapter of the Voice of the Faithful to talk about his book, Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church: Reclaiming the Spirit of Jesus on June 11. But Bishop Brown wouldn't have it: on May 16, His Eminence wrote a letter to Robinson stating "Lest your visit be a source of disunity and a cause for confusion among the faithful of our local church of Orange, I want you to know that you do not have my permission to speak in the Diocese of Orange, and I ask you to cancel your speaking engagement here." Brown was following the example of Archdiocese of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony, who has also arrogantly asked Robinson to stay away from his domain.
"A source of disunity," Toddy? "Cause of confusion"? Scared that county Catholics might hear the Word about the sex-abuse scandal, the Truth you prefer to ignore? "My permission to speak", Toddy? Um, Robinson's speech was to take place at the Costa Mesa Community Center, which doesn't fall under the jurisdiction of the Orange diocese--why the H-E-double-toothpicks does Robinson need your permission to speak in Orange County, as opposed to a diocesan property? Hopefully, the Voice of the Faithful have the courage to stand up to Brown--we've put in a phone call with them and will report back when we have a comment. In the meanwhile, do God a favor and buy Robinson's book.
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