California bishop pledges more responsive church on all issues

Published: 2004-01-20

ORANGE, Calif. (CNS) -- Calling for an end to "business as usual," Bishop Tod D. Brown of Orange declared Jan. 18 that from now on the church in Orange will be "more transparent, responsive and accountable" and will give the laity a greater voice in church affairs. "No longer will it be business as usual, directives coming down with little going up," he said before nailing the text of a new "Covenant With the Faithful" to the doors of Holy Family Cathedral. Bishop Brown linked the new diocesan covenant with the clergy sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the church over the past two years, but the covenant went beyond that to more fundamental issues of how bishops govern the church. "The present sexual abuse scandal in the United States is the most notorious in the history of the Catholic Church in our nation," he said. "There is no excuse for us having allowed the scandal to become a widespread and disgraceful cavalcade of priest after priest committing crimes against children and young people over and over again." Apologizing anew to the victims of such abuse, Bishop Brown said the crisis has served as "a wake-up call -- a call to action."

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