NEWS & VIEWS
from a CATHOLIC perspective

      STOCKTON, California (CWNews.com) -- A jury has ordered the Diocese of Stockton, California, to pay $30 million in damages to a pair of brothers who were sexually molested by a Catholic priest.

      John and James Howard were each awarded $6 million in compensatory damages and $24 in punitive damages. The judgment against the Stockton diocese comes just a week after the Diocese of Dallas agreed to pay $24 million to victims of sexual abuse by a priest there.

      Father Oliver O'Grady, the priest who molested the Howard brothers in the 1970s, is now serving a 14- year prison term after being convicted in 1994 on sexual-abuse charges. Their lawyers had argued that the Stockton diocese covered up a history of child-abuse incidents, thus in effect aiding the priest in his misdeeds.

      Bishop Donald Montrose of Stockton asked the forgiveness of the Howard family, but said that he was disappointed by the jury verdict.