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	Santa Rosa Diocese Returns $9.4 Million to Parishes, Schools Associated Press, carried in The Press-Enterprise [Santa Rosa CA] January 17, 2007 http://www.pe.com/ap_news/California/CA_BRF_North_Coast_Santa_Rosa_Diocese_271268C.shtml The Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa has returned $9.4 million to parishes and schools in a campaign to repay money lost through financial mismanagement and sex abuse scandal payoffs. The diocese has been repaying parishes in six counties through quarterly installments, funded primarily through a $20 million capital campaign started by Bishop Daniel Walsh shortly after his arrival in 2000, according to the diocese. To date, Walsh's "A New Millennium, A New Beginning" campaign has received $18.6 million in pledges. "More than the actual restoration of the funds, it ought to be seen as a restoration of the trust in Bishop Walsh," said Rev. Gary J. Lombardi, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Church in Petaluma. Walsh has devoted much of his tenure to restoring the diocese's financial health and moving past its priest sex-abuse scandals. However, the diocese was again linked to scandal last year when Sonoma priest Xavier Ochoa was charged with 10 counts of felony sex abuse involving young boys. Ochoa is believed to be in Mexico and Walsh has admitted he failed to quickly report evidence of misconduct, as required by state law. The bishop entered a diversion program in November as an alternative to misdemeanor criminal prosecution.
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