‘We Just All Pray for Him’ : Parishioners Shaken by Priest’s Conviction

Parishioners at St. Bonaventure Catholic Church on Tuesday said the conviction of Father Andrew Christian Andersen on child molestation charges had shaken but not destroyed their faith in their priest and their church.

Kathleen Yoder, a member of the Huntington Beach church for 15 years, said she personally was “crushed” by the outcome of Monday’s court proceeding, in which Andersen, 34, waived his right to a trial and was pronounced guilty by a judge of molesting four altar boys on 26 different occasions.

“It’s had a devastating effect on the parish as far as I’m concerned,” Yoder said. “But you just go on. People are human, and the church is human. We just all pray for him.”

Yoder said she thought that the Diocese of Orange “did not handle it well. My feeling is that it should have been taken care of immediately, instead of letting it go on for three years.”

Authorities said the molestations occurred between April, 1983, and March of this year in Andersen’s living quarters, the church rectory and in a borrowed motor home.

Cynthia Doe, another longtime parishioner, said the allegations against Andersen created “a spiritual crisis” for the churchgoers. “You have one view of a priest, and then it is being challenged,” Doe said. “It challenged our faith in God . . . people responded basically by letting their true colors come out. If your belief in God was shallow, then it was an excuse to let that come to the surface. If your belief in God was strong . . . it lent itself in that direction.”

Church officials at St. Bonaventure were not available for comment. Auxiliary Bishop John Steinbock of Orange, however, issued a prepared statement that said in part: “We are deeply saddened with this whole issue concerning Father Christian Andersen. The Church above all is a community faith that speaks of the love of God in our midst. That message is greatly obscured through a matter such as this.”

The statement went on to say: “We pray now for healing for Father Andersen, for the boys and their families, as well as for the whole Christian community.”

Andersen came to St. Bonaventure in 1982. He was suspended from the priesthood by church officials after his arrest. Diocesan officials have not yet said if they will allow Andersen to remain a priest or if they will expel him.

Andersen’s brother, Charles Andersen, said his brother was “doing as well as he could be under the circumstances. . . . He’s a wonderful person. It’s a tragedy that this has happened.”

Charles Andersen said he is “angry because I feel like everybody is entitled to a defense and I’m not sure that he (Father Andersen) got one.” Charles Andersen said he discussed with his brother the possibility of fighting the charges, but “to go through a trial for this is a very, very painful process for everybody. My brother’s a compassionate person.”

Also, Charles Andersen said, “given the climate of the times, it’s difficult to consider that he might get a fair trial.”

Charles Andersen said that he remains convinced that his brother is innocent “of almost all of the charges. But in the situation he’s in, it’s an all-or-nothing deal.”

Father Andersen is due to arrive today at the California Institute for Men in Chino for 90 days of psychological evaluation before sentencing.