CALIFORNIA: BISHOP KEVIN VANN DOING HIS DAMNDEST TO STOP CA BILL THAT WOULD HELP CHILD-ABUSE VICTIMS

Ex Cathedra

Orange Diocese Bishop Kevin Vann Doing His Damndest to Stop CA Bill that Would Help Child-Abuse Victims

By Gustavo Arellano Fri., Aug. 30 2013 at 7:30 AM

It's been almost a year now since Kevin Vann became bishop of the Diocese of Orange, and what has he accomplished? There was a profile in one of the Orange County Register's magazines that read like a press release. He approved the removal of memorial stones at the former Crystal Cathedral, memorial stones that the sheep of the Rev. Robert H. Schuller spent thousands to install under the idea they'd be up there for centuries. And now he's joining his fellow bishops in trying to defeat a California State Senate bill that seeks justice for child-abuse victims.

SB 131 would open a one-year window lifting statutes of limitation so that victims of pedo-priests can file civil lawsuits against the Catholic Church regardless of when their abuse happened. A similar window occurred in 2002, exposing the Church as a pedophile factory. And that's why Vann doesn't want it to happen again.

Under his direction, the Orange County Catholic, the "newspaper" of the Diocese of Orange, has published five articles opposing SB 131 since June, including a commentary from retired OC Superior Court Judge Francisco Firmat calling it "bad legislation," a column by Vann, and a whole other bunch of gobbledygook. The rag is pushing its stories on Twitter, and also retweets stories that support its view. This past week, Vann directed parish priests to send out emails to their congregation urging them to contact their state assemblymen to vote against SB 131.

Vann's position? SB 131 discriminates against Catholics and does nothing to protect children. And why should you believe him? "Dioceses throughout California have worked to atone for past mistakes," Vann writes, "and have implemented robust procedures to ensure children and young people are as safe as we can make them."

In other words: yeah, we let pedo-priests rape children, then covered it up. But NOW you should really, really trust us!

Never mind that the reason they ever bothered to pretend to care for children raped by its priests was EXACTLY because the statute-of-limitations break in 2002 allowed victims to come forward to sue, and allowed lawyers to ask for personnel files that proved what so many had previously claimed were anti-Catholic conspiracies: that the Church protected pedophiles and never gave a damn about kids. And Vann's current push to shield the Orange diocese from further scrutiny only proves this anew. Heckuva job, Vanny!

Email: garellano@ocweekly.com. Twitter: @gustavoarellano.