Bishop Hubbard is taking a voluntary leave of absence from the Diocese of Albany to deal with the allegations, which he says "with full and complete confidence" are false.

We often make a distinction between charity and justice. This 20th-century Chilean saint practiced both.

U.S. church reforms adopted in the early 2000s have contributed to a dramatic decline in cases of child abuse by clergy. The San Diego Diocese has not had a confirmed incident of sexual abuse of a minor by any of its priests in the past 20 years, records show.

Among the dozens of priests named in new lawsuits is at least one bishop, the Most Rev. Howard Hubbard, who led the Diocese of Albany from 1977 to 2014. He is accused in a lawsuit of sexually abusing a 16-year-old in the 1990s.

Doctrines and dogmas do not exist to provide esoteric data. Their purpose is always to tell us who we are, to proclaim who we can be in Christ.

The car flipped over 10 times. Maybe 15. I woke up to steel smashing against cement, over and over, over and over. Glass shattered and flew in my face and hair.