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.

A commentator on my previous post about the latest pee-pee battle between OC Blog god Matt "Jubal" Cunningham and Newport Beach lawyer John Manly pointed out something that deserves further examination. The lawyer helping Cunningham and the Friends of Monsignor John, Darren Aitken, not only is Cunningham's former classmate at Servite High School (the all-boys Catholic prep in Anaheim) but is also the son of Wylie Aitken, one of the county's more prominent lawyers and a longtime Democratic Party activist. Aitken, in turn, is a proud Catholic who is listed as a Silver Sponsor in this year's edition of the Red Mass, going so far as to join Darren in presenting Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown with gifts of bread and wine to consecrate. Wylie also helped the Diocese of Orange hammer out their 2005 $100 million settlement with 87 molestation victims. Given all this, Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit's characterization today of the bipartisan nature of those professing to care for sex-abuse victims while spinning for pedophile apologists (and their apologists) as a "very strange coalition" isn't a mystery: it's part of the same, long, sad telenovela that is the Orange diocese sex-abuse scandal.

The bumblin' Friends of Monsignor John got walloped yesterday on the radio by the John and Ken Show, and today in print by Orange County Register columnist Frank Mickadeit for their, well, bumblin' (read our archives for background on the matter, por favor). Mickadeit elicited the first public response on the controversy from the Friends' website administrator and OC Blog god Matt "Jubal" Cunningham, who told Frank the posting of unredacted depositions which revealed the names of Orange diocese sex-abuse victims was a "stupid accident. … We have nothing against the victims. I feel horrible." Good to know. But later on in Mickadeit's column, Cunningham says something strange: "We can understand now that victims would see some of the content as being insensitive."

Now? Now?! NOW?!?! Only after getting a cease-and-desist letter from victims' lawyer John Manly does Cunningham and the Friends "understand" that previously anonymous sex-abuse victims "would" interpret the posting of their names without permission as being "insensitive"? For all of Cunningham's posts about claiming to sympathize with victims of priestly molestations while simultaneously defending his pastor Urell, Cunningham shows time and time again that he simply doesn't get it. Curiously, he's yet to mention the fiasco on OC Blog, even as readers leave scolding comments.

Even worse, the Friends aren't out of the woods yet.

Go visit the website of the Friends of Monsignor John, the brave individuals who sought to publicly support the Catholic Diocese of Orange's longtime point man in its horrendous sex-abuse scandal. Notice anything different? Notice there are no more comments, deleted or otherwise? Notice there are no more depositions, redacted or otherwise? Notice there isn't even the text of the group's full-page ad in the Orange County Register from last week? Granted, websites constantly evolve, but the Friends of Monsignor John are reeling yet again from another callous mistake.

Yesterday, Newport Beach attorney John Manly--who has sued Catholic dioceses across the world for their pedo-protecting ways--fired another letter to the Friends and its most prominent members, Rancho Santiago Community College District board president John Hanna and OC Blog boss Matt "Jubal" Cunningham. In a previous letter, Manly demanded that the group take down Urell's unredacted deposition because it revealed the names of six sex-abuse survivors without their permission. This time around, Manly was angrier.

It's hard to argue against survivors of Catholic sex abuse when the subject is the church's sex-abuse scandal, yet that's what Rancho Santiago Community College District board president John Hanna must do this afternoon. You'll recall that last week, the spin-friendly group Friends of Monsignor John posted an unredacted version of John Urell's July deposition in which the names of six molestation victims of Orange diocese priests and lay workers were revealed without their permission. Hanna is the group's spokesperson, so Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will attend today's RSCCD board meeting and demand the board, "publicly censure their board president for using a new website to disclose the names of sex abuse victims without their permission, force him to withdraw his support of the controversial new 'Friends of Monsignor Urell' group" and "insist that he make a public written apology for the gross and hurtful violation of privacy." SNAP also claims the move "was a deliberate attempt to punish those victims and scare other victims into staying silent."

The dailies will no doubt pick up this story mañana, so we'll probably find out who's the bonehead that posted the unredacted deposition. The Friends' website already issued a weak apology, and Hanna--who has been less abrasive in his comments than the group's other prominent member, OC Blog boss Matt "Jubal" Cunningham"--will probably publicly apologize as well because he's actually a good guy save for the Urell supportin'. But then comes the next drama: will Cunningham even bother to discuss this fiasco on his blog? Stay tuned...

The "Friends of Monsignor John," a support group for embattled Diocese of Orange Monsignor John Urell that counts as members OC Blog founder Matt "Jubal" Cunningham and Rancho Santiago Community College District board president John Hanna, claim they care about sex-abuse victims. Indeed, a page on their website asks readers to "Please pray for these young women [who recently settled civil suits against the Orange diocese], for their healing, their serenity and that their hearts will always remain open to Christ."

As we wrote before, we didn't see much concern for those women when Urell supporters showed up in court last Monday. And now it can be told that any concern for sex-abuse victims these friends of Urell purport to keep in their hearts is just chasing after wind.

The Weekly has learned that for the past two days, the Friends of Monsignor John website made available an unredacted version of Urell's deposition, the deposition that made the monsignor go loco. In the course of the deposition, the names of six sex-abuse victims were revealed. None of them consented to having their names revealed to the public, and so the depositions made available to the press and posted online by the Orange County Register had the names redacted. Besides, it's common sense: don't publish the name of a sex-abuse victim without their permission. Try telling that to Friends of Monsignor John.

On Oct. 9, Diocese of Orange Bishop Tod D. Brown issued a letter to the county's Catholics explaining his recent $6.685 million settlement with four sex-abuse victims of diocesan lay employees. He talked about apologizing to two of the victims (read a different account here), about how sex abuse is wrong, and all that jazz. Then His Excellency said the strangest thing about Mater Dei High School, where two of the settled cases occurred:

Scroll for updates after the jump...

A support group for embattled Orange diocese Monsignor John Urell isn't even a day old, and already site administrators are deleting messages critical of Urell and his peers' handling of the diocese's sex-abuse scandal. You won't know this from reading their website, of course: they deleted the messages, silly! But this trusty reporter has three of them for you, after the jump:

Barely 24 hours have passed since the Orange diocese's press conference, and already Bishop Tod D. Brown's spinmasters are trying to make His Excellency better than he is. On the diocesan website is a story titled "BISHOP OF ORANGE APOLOGIZES TO YOUNG WOMEN," in which the following is revealed:

Most Rev. Tod D. Brown, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Orange apologized personally to two of the four young women whose lawsuits naming the Diocese had been formally settled in Superior Court just moments before.

In an impromptu news conference in front of the courthouse, Bishop Brown spoke directly to Christina Ruiz and Sarah Luckey Grey [sic], standing nearby, “To both of you, I offer my sincere and deepest apologies for what happened to you.

From reading this, it would seem that Brown went out of his way to meet Ruiz and Gray, that His Excellency really is repentant. A nice story, to be sure--except it didn't quite work out this way.

We rarely read past Page Four of the Orange County Register's front page, since anything beyond that is usually Macy's ads and rehashed Associated Press or Reuters blurbs. Indeed, we didn't read past page four this morning until an eagle-eyed reader (gracias, amigo) alerted us to a full-page ad taken out by a group calling themselves "Friends of Msgr. John." The ad in question was an "Open Letter in Support of Msgr. John Urell," the priest who for years handled sex-abuse complaints in the Catholic Diocese of Orange</