Wrong Time, Wrong Place

Taking a cue from Hollywood, local Catholic Bishop Tod Brown decided to interject politics into a confirmation service that should have been about the kids, and not about illegal immigrants:

A Mass celebrating one of the Catholic Church's most holy days took a political twist on Sunday.

More than 800 parishioners gathered in the capacity-filled Holy Family Cathedral for Pentecost, the birthday of the Christian church. Many were also celebrating the confirmation of 89 high school sophomores.

Before the final blessing, the Rev. Tod Brown, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange, called for an immigration overhaul, urging the U.S. Senate and House to reconcile their respective bills.

Brown, with Diocese of Orange auxiliary Bishops Dominic Luong and Jaime Soto, stands united with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in calling for specific immigration changes. They include earned legalization for immigrants and their families, and speedy family reunification.

As expected, the Bishop was unrepentant about his poor decision to denigrate this service with his political views, and not everyone in the crowd was happy about it:

"I have to take the time and place given to me," Brown said. " I hope they listen to me as the chief teacher, and hopefully they'll agree with it."

Some parishioners were troubled by the bishop's comments, saying it took away from the confirmation ceremony.

"That's all people were talking about," said Kathy LaMonda, 48, of Orange, who said she didn't agree with Brown's positions on immigration policy. "They're frustrated he chose to take this forum and overshadow the confirmation. I'm offended and disappointed. This was not the forum for a bishop of Orange to get on a political agenda."

Chief propagandist maybe, but not chief teacher. How about if the Bishop show a little respect for his audience next time?