Bishop resigns because of scandal.

Santa Rosa, CA--On July 22, days after a priest sued him in court, Bishop Patrick Ziemann, 57, resigned his See. Ziemann is the second American bishop in two years to resign for involvement in a homosexual scandal.

Bishop Keith Symons of Palm Beach, Fla., resigned after admitting he molested five boys early in his priestly career.

Also, Bishop Joseph Ferrario of Honolulu submitted his resignation of "health reasons" more than five years after he was publicly accused of sexually abusing a young man who subsequently died of AIDS.

Ziemann was vice-rector of a seminary in 1987 when he was appointed auxiliary bishop for Los Angelos.

In 1992 he became Bishop of Santa Rosa, a small coastal diocese just south of Oregon.

The charges against him were filed by Fr. Jorge Salas, 41, a Costa Rican recruited by Ziemann to work in the diocese as a lay minister for Hispanic youth. Salas was ordained by Bishop Ziemann in 1996. According to Sister Jane Kelly who has worked at Salas' parish for many years, there is no evidence that Salas attended a seminary before his ordination.

Bishop Ziemann has admitted having a "personal consensual relationship." Archbishop Levada of San Francisco, who is now administering the Santa Rosa diocese, noted that Bishop Ziemann had written the Pope in April asking to resign and that the Pope accepted his resignation in June. Father Salas, who has been on administrative leave since January, filed his lawsuit only after Bishop Ziemann refused to pay him $8 million ransom (Source: Wanderer, August 5; N.C. Register, Aug. 1, '99).