keeping you safe

By Diogenes ( articles ) | Jun 01, 2006

Musing on the Outrage of Orange as detailed in Sunday's LA Times article -- particularly the curious guardianship of liturgical propriety exercised by the Diocese -- I was moved to wonder about the kind of news story we'll be seeing a couple years from now in Southern California.

OC CATHOLICS REELING FROM PRIEST SCANDAL

Bishop "gravely disturbed"; Parishioners express "stunned disbelief"

by Louis Deshotels

31 May 2008 -- Special to the Anaheim Telegraph

ORANGE COUNTY PROSECUTOR Martin O'Grady confirmed today that a Fullerton area Roman Catholic priest has admitted to binating in front of a shocked congregation that included underage girls and several elderly women.

Fr. Dorian Shattuck, associate pastor of St. Adalbert's Parish in Buena Park, was released on his own recognizance yesterday pending charges. Parish staff at St. Adalbert denied knowledge of his whereabouts, and his attorney Silvia Mazzi refused to return phone calls requesting an interview.

A spokeswoman for the Diocese of Orange said that Bishop Tod Brown was "gravely disturbed" by the news and vowed to take immediate action. "The Diocese is committed to providing the best liturgical practice to all," she said, reading from a prepared statement. "We share the grief and hurt of the St. Adalbert community at this painful time but assure them of our prayerful support and our conviction that this is an isolated occurrence."

12-year-old Kitty Menendez was still red-eyed as she told reporters about the incident. "It was scary," she said. "It seemed like a normal church thing and then I found out he had done the 7:30 mass as well on the same day. I could hardly believe my ears."

Marsha Sempleson, 67, said her trust in the Catholic Church was "shattered" after witnessing the bination episode and said she doubted whether she could ever return to St. Adalbert's.

Other parishioners are skeptical about the Diocese's claim that the scandal represents an isolated abuse. "He did the same thing when he was at Holy Martyrs and the same thing when he was at St. Mark the Evangelist," said parishioner Jeff Meyer. A faculty member at St. John's Seminary in Camarillo, who spoke on condition of anonymity, admitted that there were problems with bination in the past but said that the Church has made progress in dealing with the issue. He said that Shattuck left St. John's before the Zero Tolerance Policy was formally implemented.

Shattuck's defenders in the parish insist the story is an exaggeration.
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