Unlike Mahony, Brown Knows the Virtues of Disclosure
Words of praise rang out for Bishop Tod D. Brown. The head of the Orange County Catholic diocese was lauded for his openness, for making public what his predecessors hadn’t. “There’s relief that disclosure has become part of our Catholic tradition,” another Catholic clergyman said.
That was 15 months ago, after Brown had made available to every parishioner who attended Sunday church services a detailed four-page report on the diocese’s finances. Even for those not especially audit-oriented, the report heralded a new era in church candor.
Ah, the good old days when Catholic Church openness meant the budget.
Here we are just past the Easter season a year later, and Brown once again has opened up. He’s once again talking about things long kept locked in a drawer.
Once again, he’s being praised.
When Brown came to Orange County in mid-1998, he surely never thought part of his legacy would be how he responded to the explosive issue of sexual misconduct in the local Catholic clergy.
It will be. And just as Cardinal Roger Mahony in Los Angeles, a former seminary classmate of Brown’s, so far has not quelled the anger and suspicion surrounding the scandal, Brown largely has.
“There is a difference between the way Cardinal Mahony handled these allegations as opposed to Bishop Brown,” says Katherine Freberg, an Irvine attorney who has represented two clients who settled separate lawsuits against priests in the neighboring dioceses. “Bishop Brown has come forward with the names of priests in his diocese, which is so important to the victims and really important to protecting the public. That very fact alone leads me to believe that Bishop Brown is trying to air out all these issues and no longer be secretive.”
Their religious standing aside, the heads of large dioceses are also chief executives. When Brown opened the books, he showed parishioners returns on investments and bottom lines. We probably shouldn’t be surprised that CEOs handle their businesses differently.
To be sure, Mahony has decried the growing national and local scandal in the Catholic Church but at times has come across as defiant or defensive.
Brown has taken another tack.
Freberg hasn’t met Brown or Mahony but is struck by their differing responses. “It’s puzzling to me when I see the bishop acting so differently than Cardinal Mahony,” she says. “I don’t have an answer.”
That brings us to a lesson that all CEOs should learn in business school or seminary: When scandal lands at your doorstep, full disclosure is the only game plan that works.
Mahony hasn’t learned that yet, saying he won’t release the names of all known abusers from years past--even though he believes it to be a small number--because doing so could traumatize the victims again.
That response, even if he believes it intensely, just won’t wash.
“Any time there’s not full disclosure,” Freberg says, “there’s always distrust there. And there hasn’t been full disclosure [from Mahony].”
Full accounting, Freberg argues, goes beyond merely naming names from yesteryear. “In talking with victims, they hold the shame for so long, partly because they think they’re the only victims. So many of them blame themselves. They say, ‘This is a priest. How could this man, who is the closest person we know on Earth to God [be doing this]? It must be something I did.’”
Realizing there were other victims, Freberg says, helps ease that shame. “For some reason, it gives them strength to know they’re not the only ones.”
Cardinal Mahony oversees a huge diocese, with four times the number of parishioners as that in Orange County. That makes him a powerful, influential figure.
But in these troubled times, that’s not enough to keep his decisions from being questioned.
“I think heads of organizations who are not forthcoming are concerned about what lies ahead,” Freberg says. “I just can’t help but think the reason why Cardinal Mahony is concerned with disclosing names and [parishes where offending priests served] is because he thinks it would open the floodgates.”
One woman’s opinion, and she may be dead wrong. But you can’t blame her or anyone else for thinking it out loud.
Mahony has a lot on his mind. This would be a good time for a call to his old classmate, Tod Brown.
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Dana Parsons’ column appears Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Readers may reach Parsons by calling (714) 966-7821 or by writing to him at The Times’ Orange County edition, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626, or by e-mail to [email protected].
