After years of dormancy regarding the Diocese of Orange Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, the Orange County Register is doing a great job with the case of Father Luis Eduardo Ramirez, the scummy chap to the left who pleaded guilty to attempting to molest a 17-year-old boy last week. On Friday, crime reporter Rachanee Srisavasdi dug through the case's police report and implicitly left this question for readers to ponder: why did prosecuting attorneys let Ramirez off with a relative slap on the wrists? Sure, he has to spend 180 days in jail (and prison-rape jokes aside, honor amongst criminals thankfully doesn't look too fondly on pedo-priests), but Ramirez doesn't have to register as a sex offender and the Anaheim City Attorney office dropped three misdemeanor charges against Ramirez (furnishing/selling alcohol to a minor, contributing to the delinquency of a minor and annoying or molesting a child), much to the chagrin of the Anaheim Police Department detectives.

The answer can be found on October 6, the date of the diocese's infamous Red Mass, which acknowledges local law enforcement. Being acknowledged that day are the very people who should've ensured Ramirez get treated with the hell he deserves.

Mexicans!

Yesterday, Orange County Superior Court Judge Lance Jensen sentenced Luis Eduardo Ramirez, an Augustinian who was serving at Our Lady of the Pillar Catholic Church in SanTana, to 180 days in jail for attempting to molest a 17-year-old boy in an Anaheim motel. Ramirez plead guilty to taking the parishioner to the hotel, putting his head in his lap, and reaching up his shirt. This admission did not stop parishioners from getting angry at the conviction.

"When the judge announced his decision, two burst out sobbing," wrote Orange County Register writer Rachanee Srisavasdi. "One supporter had to be dragged outside, his face red with anger. 'He's a good man,' said another parishioner, Leonardo Cortez. 'These are lies.' Ramirez's attorney, Gary Pohlson, presented more than 2,000 parishioner letters to Jensen in an attempt at leniency.

Letters, angry Mexicans, an admitting molester--where have we heard this story before? Oh, yes: Gerardo Tanilong!

The pedophilic piñata that is Mater Dei High School just keeps on producing lawsuits alleging sex abuse. Recently revealed is yet another one filed May 31 (but recently unsealed) in Orange County Superior Court by a former Mater Dei student against former assistant boys' basketball coach Jeff Andrade (pictured). The lawsuit alleges Andrade began molesting the student in 1990 when she was 17 and involved penetration, forced oral copulation, and other wholesome student-teacher activities long condoned by Mater Dei staff. I hear the apologists already: She was 17--that's basically a woman! Not according to California state law, you disgusting losers. More details to come of the suit as they emerge--oh, joy!

You know those quizzes where folks post the same photo except with tweaks (different-striped tie, etc.)? This isn't one of those--no this is better! Start with viewing this 1987 Mater Dei promotional video:

Now, list the different associations with Mater Dei pedophiles! Answers after the jump!

...the man it should be named for: Catholic Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown.

Today, retired Australian bishop Geoffrey Robinson will speak at the Costa Mesa Community Center about his book, despite Brown's whiny letter trying to ban him from Orange County. The Orange County Register asked diocesan spokesman Ryan Lilyengren why Brown threw a hissy fit. "I don't think that Bishop Brown's letter is necessarily a comment per se on [Robinson's] message, it's mostly about being in unity with other bishops."

Now wait a consarn minute, Ryan! Wasn't it Brown himself who settled the dozens of sex-abuse cases against the Orange diocese in the face of opposition against his brother bishops? Isn't it Brown who loves to brag about his pioneering efforts to combat priestly pedophilia? If Brown wants to repair his dark legacy, he wouldn't have uttered a word about Bishop Robinson's visit—he wouldn't have been a sheep. Instead, the bleating you hear rings from Marywood, as Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony pets his li'l, weakling lamb.

Monsignor John Urell, longtime pedophile protector in the Catholic Diocese of Orange, announced last week he's leaving St. Norbert's in Orange (where he currently serves as pastor) for St. Timothy in Laguna Niguel. In a letter he read to parishioners two weeks ago and reprinted in this past weekend's St. Norbert church bulletin, Urell gave no real explanation other than "I know it is time for me to go and use my talents and abilities in a new place and with a fresh start."

Urell will now serve at a parish with its own connection to the Orange diocese sex abuse scandal: its former choir director, Albert Lee Schildknecht, was arrested last year by the Orange County Sheriff’s Department on two counts of oral copulation with a minor and one count of digital penetration; this crime was part of the $6.685 million civil settlement between the Orange diocese and four sex-abuse victims.

Under the reign of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown, the Catholic Diocese of Orange has lied, spun, hid, dismissed, excused, and ignored its shameful sex-abuse scandal--no surprise there. But never in my four years of reporting on the story have I ever encountered such a ridiculous action as the one I'm about to explain.

Look closely at the picture to the left of this post. It's from the Orange diocese's new history of itself, which I reviewed this week. Pay special attention to the space between the lady and the guy on the farthest right.

Now, click at the jump to see the original photo!

It is with much regret that OC's favorite idiot bloggin' Catholic priest, Christopher Heath of St. Edward the Confessor in Dana Point, announced last week that he will no longer post, and it really is a tragedy. Now, who will be so openly cavalier in his attitude toward clerical sex-abuse victims?

For one of his swan songs, Heath wrote about the controversy surrounding retired Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, whom Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown arrogantly tried to ban from giving a June 11 speech in the Costa Mesa Community Center. Of course, Heath won't see "this Aussie," as he so eloquently puts it. But the most galling part? "I doubt this bishop is going to be any different from the kind of speakers who come every year into our diocese as part of the Los Angeles Religious Education Congress, which in my opinion is not worth going to," he opines. Oh, but he is, Chris: Bishop Robinson is a sex-abuse victim himself, and the former head of Australia's response to its own Catholic Church sex-abuse scandal, something that none of your leaders can claim. For someone prone to so many vanities, it's quite hypocritical to malign good Catholics--ah, but who are we to try to speak sense into a self-professed Downtown Disney fan (click on "About Us," then "Priests" for the disturbing confession).

Congratulations are in order to the Orange County chapter of Voice of the Faithful (OCVOTF), a Catholic laity organization. Yesterday, we reported how Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown wrote a letter to former Diocese of Sydney Bishop Geoffrey Robinson (pictured at left) arrogantly advising him to that "you do not have my permission to speak in the Diocese of Orange" even though Robinson's June 11 lecture at a OCVOTF gathering was to take place at the decidedly secular Costa Mesa Community Center. We placed a call to OCVOTF head Steve Dzida, and he told us the group was preparing a statement. He left it as a comment late last night, and we publish it here in its entirety:

Voice of the Faithful Orange County looks forward to Bishop Robinson’s speaking engagement on June 11 at 7 PM at the Costa Mesa Neighborhood Community Center, 1845 Park Avenue, Costa Mesa, CA. While we disagree with Bishop Brown on this issue, we applaud his other efforts to effect change in our Church.

Congratulations, OCVOTF for truly being vessels of Christ; we will definitely attend. As for Toddy Brown--you can learn a bit from your flock instead of the wolves you surround yourself with.

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.

Former Catholic Diocese of Stockton Bishop Donald Montrose died last week, and why should you care? Besides the fact he was the founding principal of Mater Dei High School, Montrose also unleashed Eleuterio Ramos upon Orange County parishes.

Ramos, of course, is the county's worst admitted priestly pedophile--he confessed to molesting "at least 25" boys." It didn't have to be this way: in 1975, Ramos was a priest at Resurrection Church in East Los Angeles when he molested a boy. Montrose was monsignor at the time and thus was privy to the abuse--but instead of booting the monster out, Los Angeles archdiocesan officials placed Ramos at St. Joseph in Placentia (Orange County still didn't have its own diocese) and told him to undergo counseling per the advice of the Orange County District attorney. And the rest, as they say, is Catholic cover-up.

**Updated, with new material at the bottom...

...Is actually the dimwit from last month: Father Christopher Heath of St. Edward the Confessor in Dana Point. To mark Pope Benedict XVI's meeting with the sex-abuse victims of his priests, Heath wrote a post on his blog where he made this off-hand but telling remark:

It's a good story of healing and hope, but will never be enough for some who use this awful situation to justify their hatred for all things Catholic.

Chris: Have you learned nothing from this scandal? Most of the Orange diocese's fiercest critics have never bashed the faith, the very faith that betrayed them. No, they despise the arrogance of apologists like you, the complicity by the church hierarchy in the rapes of innocents, the sham that you Pharisees have propped up instead of the One True Faith. "Hatred for all things Catholic"...to quote the Nazarene, Chris: why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? To quote the Mexican: pendejo.

**UPDATE: Heath responds to a critic at his blog (howzabout playing over here, padre?). "I don't doubt that there has been spin, lies, and cowardess on the part of our leaders in some cases, but I do believe that most bishops who were given information about pedophilia and recidivism never understood the gravity of the problem because the 'experts' (doctors, lawyers) gave them advice that was "current" in the 70's and 80's that has since been changed," he writes. "It's easy to lay blame 20-30 years later in the light of better medical/psychological evidence, and it's easy to conclude that this was all some big conspiracy and that our leaders did all of this in bad faith."

In "some cases," Chris? Whither Eleuterio Ramos? Whither Andrew Christian Andersen? Whither Pecharich? Whither Bishop Brown's own accusation? We've invited Heath to converse here on our blog--we doubt he'll take us up on the offer and instead live the blinders life.

"I'm quite pleased with what we've done in terms of protection and hopefully this won't ever happen again, but then we can't guarantee that, nobody can...Everything humanly possible has been done and is being done too protect our people.''

--Catholic Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown, on his reaction to the diocese's sex-abuse scandal. "Everything humanly possible?" Whither Urell? Whither the Covenant with the Faithful? Whither Pecharich? Whither your ENTIRE DAMN HANDLING OF THIS SCANDAL??? Sorry, readers: click here for mucho background on my rant.

It's still to be seen what exactly will KOCE-TV Channel 50's much-hyped documentary about Orange County Catholic life will contain (how much you wanna bet not a peep about the pedophile priests that terrorized county parishes for a quarter century?), but the Weekly can report that most of its principal funders helped the Diocese of Orange spin its sex-abuse scandal in one way or another.

The four sponsors listed for Matters of Faith (airing April 28th at 7 p.m.) are the law offices of Aitken, Aitken and Cohn; Robinson, Calcagnie & Robinson; Federico Sayre; and Tim Busch and his wife. Connect the dots between these firms and pedophile priests below!

...For denying you the pedophile-apologist stylings of Father Christopher Heath, priest at St. Edward the Confessor in Dana Point. A faithful reader turned us on to Heath's blog today, where he reveals that Monsignor John Urell is back after skipping out to Canada for half-a-year to deal with the anxiety brought on by his pedo-protecting ways. Rather, that's the truth: Heath's spin is Urell is "healing from the horrible stress of accusations and media attention."

"Accusations and media attention," Chris? That's not what Urell said during his deposition last fall in the Jeff Andrade matter. Besides, what exactly were the accusations? That Urell shielded pedophiles? In his own writing. And media attention? If we left it up to officials at your employer, the Diocese of Orange, it would be like the good ol' days of sealed settlements.

That's Heath's most recent idiocies. After the jump, much more--and some dishing about his new personal trainer and Toyota Prius!

...Is Patrick Redmond of Newport Beach! Today, the Orange County Register prints his letter blasting star columnist Frank Mickadeit for his supposed "umbilical fascination" with famed Catholic Church sex-abuse victim's attorney John Manly. The trigger for such a clever twist of words? A March 7 column Mickadeit wrote about the return of Monsignor John Urell, the longtime Catholic Diocese of Orange priest who lost it in a deposition regarding his pedophile-protecting past, in which he quoted a Manly statement criticizing Urell's scheduled return to St. Norbert in Orange.

"This tag team's tedious attempt to dismantle Monsignor John Urell's reputation has become exhausting," Redmond writes before going on to say "The fact that Roman Catholic Bishop Tod Brown's and Urell's respectability remain intact reveals their surplus courage, while these other two clowns mothball human decency" and that Mickadeit and Manly are also "haranguers who consider facts a nuisance."

Patty: We realize that the sea air in Newport Beach slowly corrodes everything with its salty essence. We'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you mean Brown and Urell are the clowns who don't bother with facts. Don't believe me? Read, ya sea dawg, read!

Thanks to Bob Squalonero for the initial observation.

There IS a strange resemblance btw. Monsignor John Urell and Faux News Commentator Sean Hannity. The squint, the eyebrows - even the hair is parted the same way. I've got goosebumps. At least I hope those are goosebumps.

Any thoughts? On the picture, not the bumps.

Hey, kids! Your favorite pedophile-tolerating, victim-ignoring, down-breaking Monsignor is back! Well, he may not be YOUR favorite. He's certainly Matt Cunningham's favorite.

The Diocese of Orange announced this week that Msgr. John Urell is expected to return as pastor of St. Norbert Church in Orange sometime after Easter. Urell was discharged from a Canadian psychiatric facility earlier this week, after suffering a so-called anxiety attack on the witness stand back in October. From the Reg:

Urell, who used to investigate clergy and other sex-abuse claims against the Diocese of Orange, was sent to Southdown Institute in Canada after breaking down during the middle of a July deposition in a Mater Dei sex abuse lawsuit. He was sent to the hospital for "acute anxiety,'' his lawyers then said.

Lawyers representing the plaintiff Christina Ruiz attempted to hold [Bishop Tod] Brown in contempt for sending Urell to the facility, arguing that Urell needed to finish pretrial testimony. The motion, though, was dropped when Ruiz and two other women settled their sex-abuse lawsuits against the Diocese for $6.685 million in October.

Urell used to investigate sex-abuse claims? I thought the problem was just the opposite.

Anyway, the return of the Misguided Monsignor has inspired me to come with the first line of a song. Any follow-up verses are welcome.

Well down in California, right in Orange Count-y
While he was givin' some difficult testimony
This ol' monsignor had a fit, and over he fell
The Southland knew this holy man as John Urell
To Canada and mental help our boy did flee,
But we knew that he would return eventually.

Go go ... Go, Johnny go, go (to Canada)

It's been a rough half-year for Peter Callahan of the Tustin law firm Callahan, McCune & Willis, mostly because of his big mouth. The head lawyer for the Catholic Diocese of Orange sex-abuse scandal unwittingly revealed in September the sealed amount Bishop Tod D. Brown gave to a statutory rapist, barked at a sex-abuse survivor during a press conference, and did enough other wackiness to earn the title of one of our Scariest People late last year.

Through it all, diocesan apologists said nothing. But with Callahan's latest actions, perhaps they'll finally ask Brown to dump the guy--unless Orange County's 1.3 million Catholics like getting ripped off.

I didn't think it would happen, but it finally did: the back-and-forth between Catholic sex-abuse survivor advocates and a bunch of idiots posted yesterday is now the most-commented story in Navel Gazing history, beating Scott Moxley's news of Carona's indictment. Congrats, wackies!

In better news, we finally have an entrant in our Mater Dei High School apologist contest: the anonymous commentator who calls himself "Annoyed" sent the Weekly a copy of angry letters he (she?) sent to Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown and Mater Dei officials regarding the sex-abuse scandal. Per Annoyed's request, we won't publish the contents of their letter. Gracias, Annoyed, for being a good Monarch--you're one of four we know. Now howzabout telling your fellow alumni to follow your lead?

**UPDATE: This is now the most-commented post in Navel Gazing history. Keep up the wackiness, readers!

Over the years I've covered the Catholic Diocese of Orange sex-abuse scandal, I've found few people braver than Joelle Casteix. She's one of Orange County's most prominent sex-abuse survivors (a choir director repeatedly raped Casteix while she was a student at Mater Dei High during the 1980s) and frequently stands outside churches to demand clueless Catholics hear the voices of the Orange diocese's molestation victims. For her work, Casteix has endured taunts, slurs, screams and even the occasional shove--and on Navel Gazing, anonymous cowards leave snide remarks.

Now, Casteix must deal with anonymous faxes to me.

Congratulations, Mater Dei alumni, students, and anyone who has any pride because of your relationship to the Catholic high school!

My open letter to current Monarchs quarterback Matt Barkley asking him to think twice about lending his prodigious arm to a school that long tolerated rapist teachers and administrators is now the second-most-commented post in Navel Gazing history ever (the record holder is R. Scott Moxley's news of former Orange County sheriff Mike Carona's indictment). Most of the commentators were MD alumni outraged that I dared put all the blame of the school's crimes on all Monarchs instead of just the few powerful bad seeds at the school. Many expressed anger at the administration, even prayed about the problems. Some even called for jail time for such crimes. And all said what a wonderful school Mater Dei is.

Okay, okay: I give in. I'll apologize to any Mater Dei alumni who I insulted in that post if they take part in my challenge after the jump!

Dear Matt,

Congrats on all your success: Gatorade High School Football, Player of the Year (first junior so honored ever), the early commitment to USC, the many prep titles—oops, scratch that last one! And we loved the profile that the New York Times did on you yesterday. We especially were excited about your commitment to Jesus Christ, “Jesus Christ is No. 1 to me,” you told the Times. “That’s who I play for.”

Heaven knows this world needs more upstanding young athletes like you. Which leads to the following question: If the Nazarene is your man, why on Earth do you play for Mater Dei?

Matt: Mater Dei is as far removed from God as Gomorrah. It openly protects statutory rapists who help its athletic programs win. School administrators consistently try to brush aside its cover-up-plagued past. More importantly, your home base is Costa Mesa's Rock Harbor Church—aren't you evangelical types supposed to hate us Papists? We kid, but only on the last point. Seriously, Matt: Jesus doesn't take kindly to people who attend or support modern-day Mater Dei—and if you don't believe me, just ask the Virgin Mary. If you insist on athletic glory—and what kind of devout Christian seeks that?—drop out and attend Servite High: at least that school hasn't tolerated boy buggerers since the 1970s.

It hasn't been a good couple of months for Larry Stukenholtz, a former Mater Dei High choir director whom the school canned in the late 1990s for carrying on a relationship with a student. In October, his victim was part of a $6.685 million settlement that the Catholic Diocese of Orange reached with four girls molested by diocesan employees. Stukeholtz also lost his job as a music teacher at St. Louis Community College after its Board of Trustees unanimously voted to boot the bum out.

Now comes word that Stukeholtz failed in his attempt to have his victim pay for the legal costs associated with the October settlement. In a two-page ruling, Orange County Superior Court Judge Gail Andler wrote Stukenholtz filed his case too late for her consideration. No pithy joke here: we're just too disgusted at a creep who dares make a young woman pay for his lawyer bills after getting fired twice for his pawing.

About a week ago, we wondered whatever happened to Monsignor John Urell, the pastor of St. Norbert's Catholic Church in Orange and the longtime keeper of secrets in the Orange diocese sex-abuse scandal. Today, a St. Norbert's parishioner faxed us an update: Urell spoke to his flock this past weekend through the wonders of a church bulletin.*

In it, Urell thanks his supporters for "the many notes that have come to me, usually just at the right time when encouragement was needed." The Orange County native revealed that he had suffered from "psychological, emotional, physical and spiritual turmoil...the last number of years" and told the faithful to await his return "within the first quarter of the new year." Urell also reveals a spiritual insight: his time at the Southdown Institue for an acute anxiety disorder has reminded the padre to "pray for, in a special way, all those who suffer from anxiety and depression." It's his politically correct way of mentioning what got him sent away in the first place: his role in THE BLOODY SEX ABUSE SCANDAL THAT HE WON'T EVEN MENTION BECAUSE HE'S TOO MUCH OF A *&$#%^ COWARD TO GO AGAINST BISHOP TOD BROWN. Sorry, where were we? Merry Christmas to all, and good night!

*We'd post the bulletin, but we don't know how to link in any .pdf's...

Remember John Urell? Monsignor for the Catholic Diocese of Orange? Who covered up for pedophiles? Whose supporters continuously shot themselves in the foot? Who was whisked off to Canada to--take your pick--combat an "acute anxiety disorder" (according to the diocese) or to evade a deposition (says suing lawyers)? That guy?

Well, it's December 10--and he should be back in town.

So where is he?

Recent news that Archdiocese of Los Angeles Cardinal Roger Mahony claims he was assaulted by someone angry with his treatment of sex-abuse survivors brings back memories of my own obnoxious attack on His Eminence over the rapes of innocents. It was in October of 2005, and I was spending a week in Los Angeles as part of the Western Knight Center for Specialized Journalism's seminar on the Latinization of Arts in America. Seminar organizers kicked off the week with a visit to Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles, the cathedral better described as the Rog Mahal. I protested loudly to no avail and looked on glumly as some diocesan hack went on about the cathedral's architecture, doors, blah, blah, blah.

We were allowed to explore the cathedral on our own for a bit--and that's when I saw my chance for some payback.

Remember Larry Stukenholtz? Probably not. The former Mater Dei choir teacher didn't get as much attention as his fellow molestor, former assistant boys' basketball coach Jeff Andrade. But Stukenholtz was also part of the most recent sex-abuse settlement by the Catholic Diocese of Orange.

Stukenholtz is now a music professor at St. Louis Community College, and sex-abuse victims have long tried to get the man fired.
Last year, when Sarah Gray filed a lawsuit against Stukeholtz claiming he abused her at Mater Dei during the 1990s, Stukeholtz dismissed the claims as "ridiculous." But last week, school officials suspended him with pay as they "reviewed" her story. But Gray's story is pretty damning--try a sworn deposition in which Mater Dei president Patrick Murphy said Mater Dei forced Stukenholtz to resign because of "inappropriate sexual relations with a former student" damning!

On Oct. 5, Catholic Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown announced that the Orange diocese had settled four molestation claims against former lay employees for $6.685 million. Today, the Orange diocese is supposed to pay up--but plaintiff's attorney John Manly says Bishop Brown and his cronies have delayed too long. This morning, Manly sent out a letter to longtime diocesan lawyer (and Orange County's 14th scariest person this year) Peter Callahan expressing outrage over the fact he's not returning Manly's calls regarding the transfer of funds.

"There is no excuse for you or the Bishop to hold the settlement up," Manly writes. "From my past dealings with your firm, I view this as just one more instance of your and your client's desire to further inflict pain on these poor women and further the truth." Manly went on to describe the Church's inaction actions as "toxic vindictiveness that is simply difficult to understand."

Manly and Callahan continue their tango Dec. 3, when Bishop Brown faces contempt-of-court charges.

Check here for updates on whether Brown does indeed pony up the dinero...

On the eve of a December 3 contempt-of-court hearing against Catholic Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown, longtime diocesan lawyer (and Orange County's 14th Scariest Person for 2007) Peter Callahan remains brazenly arrogant in discussing his client's terrible role in protecting pedophiles and statutory rapists. This time around, Callahan granted an "interview" to the Orange diocese's website (if by "interview," you can accept it as "shameless attempt at spin paid for by the faithful's donations"). Let's eviscerate Petey's claims, shall we?

Tonight, Servite Catholic High School hopes to end 20 years of football futility and beat the Mater Dei Monarchs. But there's one category in which Servite doesn't mind losing to their hated rivals: the molestation sweepstakes! The Catholic diocese of Orange has settled 11 sex-abuse cases involving former Mater Dei teachers, counselors, principals, even coaches and choir directors. Servite lags far behind--just four boy-buggerers* have terrorized students.

*Before the usual apologists criticize my choice of words, remember that Servite High is all-boys...

We've always tried really hard to like Jaime Soto, the auxiliary bishop in the Catholic Diocese of Orange who's leaving this weekend to become coadjutor bishop in the Diocese of Sacramento. He's a virtual Aztlanista on immigration, urges compassion for AIDS victims, and always sports a smile. But our admiration for Soto goes the way of church attendance every time we remember Soto's involvement in the Orange diocese sex-abuse scandal.

Earlier this week, National Public Radio aired a segment on Donald McGuire, a Jesuit who served as a spiritual director for Mother Teresa's religious order who just happened to molest boys. You know the rest of the story: ravaged kids, parental complaints ignored by diocesan and Jesuit officials, more rapes, lawsuits. But what hasn't been noted is that McGuire was a familiar face in Orange County for decades.

The pedophile, described in a 1991 Orange County Register article as "feisty, blunt and armed with some caustic home truths," held many retreats at Marywood (the Orange diocese's headquarters) and St. Jean de Lestonnac Elementary School in Tustin during the 1980s and 1990s. His speciality: the Spiritual Exercises, silent get-togethers where Jesuits reaffirmed the faith. At these retreats, according to an Orange County resident who attended them for years but requested anonymity, McGuire would boast about how his methods changed the lives of wayward men. "I have sons all over the world," McGuire would state. There has never been a molestation lawsuit filed against McGuire in Orange County Superior Court--at least none ever disclosed.

Just got off the phone with Malcolm Smith, a former priest in the Orange diocese who served at St. Kilian Church in Mission Viejo during the mid-1990s. Smith was there when Patrick Ziemann--then the Bishop of Santa Rosa, formerly a Mater Dei instructor--allegedly abused a boy during confession at a religious retreat. When the boy's mother complained to then-Orange Bishop Norman McFarland about the incident, His Excellency replied by stating he couldn't "conceive it as being possibly true, either as to the action alleged . . . or as to its circumstances" and said such accusations were "open to a libel suit."

Now here's the rest of the story, according to Smith:

This year's edition of our annual Scariest People issue includes two entries from the Catholic Diocese of Orange: lead sex-abuse lawyer Peter Callahan and Varsity Gold, the high-school fundraising outfit that hired and proudly employees statutory rapist (and former Mater Dei boys' assistant basketball coach) Jeff Andrade. With those two entries, the Orange diocese enters the Weekly's record books as the organization with the longest consecutive streak of appearances in Scariest. The previous entries:

2006: The aforementioned Andrade.

2005: Former diocesan spokesman Joseph Fenton and parents at St. John the Baptist elementary school in Costa Mesa.

2004: Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown and diocesan counsel Maria Schinderle.

Amazingly, the Orange diocese even beats out two other Scariest standbys: the District Attorney's office and the Orange County Sheriff Department. In fairness to the OCSD, however, we estimate that Sheriff Mike Carona has made more individual appearances than anyone else--including this year.

Nearly a week after posting an unredacted deposition revealing the names of six Orange diocese sex abuse victims, Friends of Monsignor John Urell webmaster Matt "Jubal" Cunningham posted a lengthy apology on his powerful, widely read OC Blog. Cunningham's mea culpa is rather extraordinary in that his previous commentaries about the Orange diocese sex-abuse scandal antagonized sex-abuse survivors and their supporters with his spin for Urell, the Orange diocese's former person in charge of investigation sex-abuse claims who didn't do the greatest of jobs.

"There were faithful, hurt Catholics who came to the Diocese for help and were treated as potential legal liabilities rather than members of the flock to be shepherded and cared for," wrote Cunningham. "And in my heart, I can’t account for that. It saddens and angers me they were treated that way, and I believe victims have every right to seek recompense from the Church and the Church has an obligation to make amends to victims of abuse by its clergy and employees." To his credit, Cunningham also tips the proverbial cap to the reporters and lawyers that hves pressured the Orange diocese for years to owe up to its pedo-protecting ways, entities Cunningham slammed just in the past month. And, shocker of shockers, Cunningham demands accountability from Urell, his pastor at St. Norbert in Orange. "I also want him to return," Cunningham adds, "so he can make specific amends to those people to whom he needs to make amends, and seek forgiveness." Good first step toward repentance, Matt: The next step is to resume your peepee match with John Manly.