In 2004 he told then-Gov. Gray Davis to “have the integrity” to stop receiving Communion because of the governor’s policies favoring abortion.
In 2005, Bishop Weigand ordered the firing of a drama teacher at the all-girls Catholic prep school Loretto High School after a parent discovered the teacher was serving as an escort at an abortion clinic.
“If we are to form faithful Catholic young people and provide suitable role models for such formation,” the bishop said in an October 26, 2005 letter, “teachers in our Catholic schools must themselves be witnesses to the Truth proclaimed in the Gospel, conducting themselves by word and deed in accordance with the Truths of our Faith. Their witness does not end when the school bell rings at the end of the day or the school year concludes at the beginning of summer.”
According to the California Catholic Daily, the Diocese of Sacramento agreed to settle 33 claims of clerical sexual abuse at a financial cost of $35 million in June 2005. Presently, Bishop Weigand said the diocese is beginning to recover from the expense, but the “hurt and pain” still remain.
The bishop is scheduled to turn over responsibility for the diocese to current coadjutor Bishop Jaime Soto at a November 30 Mass in Sacramento’s Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. During the rite, Bishop Weigand will retire his coat of arms, which bears the motto “Feed my Lambs.”
The sitting bishop’s coat of arms will be replaced by that of Bishop Soto, which bears the motto “Joy and Hope.”