PD Editorial: Welcome candor and transparency from Santa Rosa’s Catholic bishop

North Coast Catholics waited a long time for their church to name all of the local priests who sexually abused children.

A list was finally released last weekend, and to his credit, Bishop Robert F. Vasa went a step further. His list of 39 priests and deacons with ties to the Diocese of Santa Rosa includes known abusers, others who were credibly accused and two former bishops who are still under review.

Vasa said about 100 children have been sexually abused since the diocese was founded in 1962, with the most recent incidents reported in 2006 and 2008.

This is unprecedented transparency for local church leaders.

Vasa followed up with a public apology for the “evil actions” and a promise to be vigilant.

“Even when I'm fairly certain that nothing untoward had occurred, I will report it to the police because that's the route I need to take,” he said at a Monday news conference.

That is, of course, the legal standard in California.

But it didn't apply to members of the clergy until the sex abuse scandal unfolded on the North Coast, beginning in 1994 when a Santa Rosa man accused the Rev. Gary Timmons of molesting him a decade earlier at a Mendocino County youth camp owned and operated by the Diocese of Santa Rosa.

Timmons was suspended as The Press Democrat prepared to publish its first article detailing allegations against him, and church officials admitted that he had been the subject of two previous complaints dating to the 1970s - one of them lodged by a fellow priest.

More men subsequently stepped forward to accuse Timmons and other North Coast priests of sexual abuse, at the camp, in parish rectories and elsewhere.

The diocese, which operates 40 parishes from Petaluma to Crescent City, has paid more than $31 million in civil settlements. And, since 1997, religious leaders, like teachers and medical professionals, are required by state law to report any suspicions about child abuse.

Some victims' advocates faulted Vasa for failing to detail efforts by the church to protect offenders, some of whom weren't publicly identified before the list was released on Saturday.

But based on what's known, we think Vasa deserves the benefit of the doubt.

He was more comprehensive in his disclosure than some fellow bishops, identifying priests who were accused before or after serving in the Diocese of Santa Rosa. Vasa also acknowledged that church officials were too lenient, giving second chances when they instead should have called the police.

“We can only live forward,” he said Monday. “We can't live backwards, and so I suspect I would have done some things differently.”

Unfortunately, the Roman Catholic Church, as an institution, hasn't been so clear.

Pope Francis has sent mixed messages. He has disciplined and removed some bishops, but the Vatican also insisted that American bishops cancel a November 2018 vote on recommendations for addressing the sexual abuse crisis. Then, in a Christmas address, Francis told predatory priests to “hand yourself over to human justice, and prepare for divine justice.”

American church leaders are scheduled to meet with the pope in late February. They shouldn't miss that opportunity to commit themselves to full transparency and, consistent with the pope's most recent remarks, the pursuit of justice for victims of sexual abuse.

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