CALIFORNIA
Merced Sun-Star
Published: August 11, 2013
By Cynthia Hubert — chubert@sacbee.com
Just after sunrise on a crisp November morning, the Rev. Timothy Nondorf arrived at the Sacramento Catholic Diocese to tend to administrative duties for Bishop Jaime Soto.
Nondorf, an easygoing young priest with silver hair, celebrated Masses and heard confessions at Holy Spirit Church in Land Park and lived in its rectory. His primary job, though, was with the diocese, where he served as vice chancellor.
As he parked outside the brick building behind an Arco station on Broadway, Nondorf anticipated an ordinary day of answering telephone calls and huddling with the bishop about pastoral issues.
Instead, Tuesday, Nov. 29, 2011, almost instantly turned to crisis for him and the sprawling diocese.
By the end of the day one of the diocese’s most popular priests, accused of molesting a young girl, would be the subject of a criminal investigation. The Catholic Church, long criticized for protecting abusers, would be publicly tested about its declaration of “zero tolerance” for such crimes. Soto would steel himself for intense public scrutiny.
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