As the Catholic Diocese of Orange heads toward a potentially blockbuster civil trial, as diocesan PR flacks spin furiously, Bishop Tod D. Brown is in...St. Augustine, Florida?!
Yep. His Excellency is there as part of the Joint Committee of Orthodox and Catholic Bishops. Now, we don't hold anything against our Orthodox brethren--Orange County Register columnist Steve Greenhut is Greek Orthodox--but surely there are more important things for Brown to take care of that a millennium-old schism, no?
Indeed, even as Brown kicks it with some of his fellow bishops, he's still trying to fight off efforts to hold him in contempt. Yesterday, Brown filed a declaration from St. Augustine stating under oath that he had "no knowledge whatsoever of any court order compelling" Monsignor John Urell to "appear at a deposition or trial" prior to shipping Urell off to Canada to treat an acute anxiety disorder. Brown refers to an August 30 order by Orange County Superior Court Judge Gail Andler ordering Urell to appear in court.
Ah, the old Know Nothing game. Problem is, Brown can't remember his own words. From his Sept. 10 deposition, page 51:
John Manly (the lawyer suing the Orange diocese): Bishop, did you know when you sent [Urell] to Canada that my client was trying to depose him?
Brown: Yes. I know that Monsignor Urell was going to be--had given a deposition and was going to be called back for a further deposition.
Manly: Did you know that he was going to be asked to testify at trial in this matter on the 18th of September?
Brown: No, I did not know that, that he was going to be asked to testify at trial on the 18th.
Homework for the afternoon: Is it appropriate for Bishop Brown to leave Orange County while the proverbial poop is hitting the diocesan fan? And did Brown really not know about Judge Andler's ruling nearly a week after the fact? Is the Pope Catholic?
October 4, 2007 13:11
It is obvious that it is legal corruption as usual within the Diocese of Orange. Bishop Brown's General Counsel and legal team have NEVER had to abide to civil discovery and pre-trial laws in the past, so what makes anyone believe that things are going to be different now? Bishop Brown will probably get a few more "getaways" in before the Jane Doe v. Andrade trial.
Mon. Urell knows too much and if called to testify, the sound of the word indictment may slowly cross the path of the Diocesan General Counsel, legal team and possibly Bishop Brown. Well that would require a District Attorney that was not politically tied to the Diocese of Orange. And if the DA practices legal ethics with integrity that is needed to protect kids in the future, he would disqualify himself from the Diocese of Orange abuse of process mockery in Orange County by requesting the California AG investigate the ongoing corruptions, judicial abuse, illegal business and employment practices that have allowed sex crimes against children for decades.
REMEMBER, there were 250 attorneys and 30 Judges at the Red Mass Event at Holy Family Cathedral last Monday. Are you telling me that not one person connected to the Diocese hasn't started the good 'ol boy, need one more favor, telephone chain, to bail Maria Schinderle, Bishop Brown and Peter Callahan out of the very very deep, dark, corrupt and illegal hole they have dug for themselves in the Jane Doe case. WHO PAYS A SEXUAL PREDOATR $100,000 TO DISAPPEAR?
Like a previous blogger stated, Jane Doe will NEVER walk alone in her pursuit of justice and clergy abuse victims still contemplating speaking out about sex abuse, will NEVER walk alone again!
To the Diocese of Orange legal team, Maria Schinderle and Bishop Tod Brown: You are about to witness the POWER OF PRAYER at its strongest and most sincere! Hold on to your hats! MANY look forward to seeing you all at the upcoming public trial.
October 4, 2007 13:29
I think it is admirable that the Bishop can take all his worries with a grain of salt. He pays big lawyers to worry about things, he just shows up where he has to and say he knows nothing about any of it, as he is busy doing other things... which he is.
I couldnt do it. I'd be crying like a baby in the room next Urell at Southdown. I was so worried about just getting through the whole irony of the red mass last sunday that I had to take a nap on monday. No way could I have headed out to florida, I could barely get out of bed.
Or maybe he just had to go and level out before heading back into the battle field again.
Either way, I say cudos for Brown for not cracking under the pressure. I for one am impressed. It leaders like him that the youth can look up to.
October 4, 2007 14:10
As a longtime Catholic, I can't believe the type of crap that our current leadership is trying to take. Going to Canada to seek treatment is one thing, but to go to Florida before a big case? Absolutely disgusting.
October 4, 2007 16:22
Ah, yes, the Red Mass. Truth Seeker's post is on the mark. I wonder if police officials show up in full uniform.
Truly, Gustavo, your coverage is a jewel. I light up every time I see your articles on the abuse tracker (http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AbuseTracker/)
I need the humor as an offset to the obvious corruption. Thank you indeed.
October 4, 2007 16:55
Well nothing like a tanning session with the crocodiles in the Deep South.
Brown might feel at home with the worlds oldest living reptiles on earth.
You have to feel for the guy a little.
He's getting ready to get skinned in the California Civil court system.
He will know what it feels like to be turned into a pair of shoe's or a purse or a lawyer’s brief case.
Wonder if he saw the space shuttle wile in Florida and thought about the blast off he gave Urell to Canada.
Everyone for miles see's the launching of Urell, as a way to side step our civil justice system and put this case into outer space.
Houston! We are ready for reentry with space shuttle Urell! Over
Houston our reentry will be off course! Over
Houston we can adjust! Over
Houston our glide path will be over Canada at 10:10:07! Over
Houston are we clear for landing at Santa Ana Court house? Over
We are watching and taking notes for the future generations of Catholics and abuse victims.
This mission is deadly to future generations of children.
Houston we have touch down but our cargo,”Urell” seams to have burned up on reentry! Over
Houston the Diocese heat shield has faded and was the reason for the irregularity! Over
October 4, 2007 19:19
Coincidentally (maybe), the St. Augustine Gay Pride Festival is scheduled for this weekend. Perhaps His Excellency intends to minister (wink) to the "objectively disordered."
October 5, 2007 12:08
Maybe Tod Brown went to Florida to seek divine guidance, like the Bishop of Gallop, New Mexico recently did, a little R&R, after a rough pick-up gay sex encounter, and beat-up shake down (uh, I mean "falling down a fight of 6 stairs") to return home to: "talk to little people 3 to 4 feet tall, with Halloween Masks, that broke into his home, but one was nice."?
To borrow from The Caine Mutiny and Humphrey Bogart's character's testimony, on the stand, 'more than some strawberries are missing'...
What can laity do to end this overt criminal shirade costing each of us (1.1 billion RC laity worldwide) BILLIONS of dollars, and counting, by less than 3,500 miters and red hats' global collusion, obstruction of justice, and multi decade sexual assault, mental torture, physical maiming, oral copulation, rape, sodomy, kinapping suicide, extortion, racketerring, and murders of hundreds of thousands of children in their ongoing enabling?
DONATE NO MONIES FOR ANY REASON WHATSOEVER until the likes of Mahony, Brown Leveda, Walsh, George, Egan, Law, O'Malley, Brom, Steinbock, Weigland, Rivera, to name only a few, are removed from office, canonically censored like founder pedophile Marciel of the Legionnaires of Christ, and placed under house arrest in a remote, cold, dark, hard labor and bad food monastery for life. If they refuse, each should be swiftly and irrevocably EXCOMMUNICATED!
No Bishop Accountability? No Laity Monies!
Russ Bianchi
Lay Member of the Diocese of Monterey, CA