Controversial bishop to speak in Costa Mesa

A local Roman Catholic organization will have a controversial guest speaker today at the Costa Mesa Community Center, and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange has asked him not to give his presentation.

Australian Bishop Geoffrey Robinson left the church because he was unhappy with how it handled the sex abuse scandal, which he details in his new book, “Confronting Power and Sex in the Catholic Church.” Bishop Tod Brown of the Diocese of Orange says the book contradicts church doctrine.

“Bishop Robinson questions the way in which the authority of the church is exercised and how decisions are made within the church, and asks for a reexamination of the attitude of church leadership in sexual morality,” said Chairman Steve Dzida of Voice of the Faithful Orange County, the group that invited Robinson to speak, says the issues are not doctrinal in nature.

Robinson will still give his speech at 7. The event is free.

— Michael Miller