We received a letter from our Bishop this past Friday afternoon. He asked that it be placed in the bulletin but unfortunately it was too late for us to be able to do so. We did post the letter on the doors of the church and read it at all of the Masses. But it is such an awesome request that it is replacing Monday Diary in hopes of getting the message out.
It is part of the great history of our faith that, when we face difficult times, we were called as a body to acts of prayer and penance to bring healing and ask for guidance. We read about people of faith fasting, praying and wearing sackcloth and ashes as we as a people look to realign ourselves with all that God calls us to.
Currently we face a scandal in the Church. Moreover, the we fully acknowledge when it had not been responded to well at all. The bishops of the United States will be gathering beginning November 11th to call each other to accountability, develop a response and be better shepherds.
During this week leading up to their meeting, our Bishop is dedicating himself to prayer and fasting and has asked us to pray along with him:
For healing of those who have been abused.
For the just punishment and conversion of the perpetrators and those who covered up abuse.
For the bishops, that they may be holy shepherds who will do all they can to keep the sheep entrusted to them from harm.
I will join him and prayer and encourage you to do so also.
God bless,
Fr. Valencheck
7 comments:
I will join Bishop Perez in prayer and fasting for this intention with all my heart. I am heartened to see the fine quality and faithfulness of young priests coming out of our seminary - especially your Father Simone and my own pastor, Father Zerucha. We are indeed blessed.
But what was allowed to happen - and rewarded and protected by those who fully knew the character of those deviant clerics who caused such a dreadful scandal - must *NEVER* be allowed to happen again.
As a direct result of the sinful behavior of deviant priests, bishops, and cardinals, we in the laity have suffered the loss of our reputations as faithful Christians, trying to hold our heads up when non-Catholics question how we can possibly support a Church which overlooks and rewards deviancy. We have lost our beloved parishes and schools because the funds to run them have been spent on victim settlements. Children and lay men and women have had their chastity and souls endangered, while our leadership fully knew and did nothing. And we have suffered the loss of faithful clergy, whose chastity and purity has been attacked in the seminary, while homosexual, pedophile, and predatory behavior and abuse of power is encouraged, covered up, and rewarded.
Our leadership MUST address this faithfully and judiciously, and remove ALL unwholesome, unfaithful influences, teachers, and teachings from our seminaries, schools, and parishes. There is no room in any of our Catholic institutions for less than faithful staff and teaching. They have a solemn duty to the laity and the faithful clergy to protect our souls, not to endanger them. NOTHING is more urgent than this.
With the greatest respect to you, my dear Fr. V, we will pray, fast, and hope. But this time we are watching, and will not settle for flowery words and no faithful action.
Sue, OFS
I agree wholeheartedly with the comment left by "Sue" (above).
My concern is that the real scandal in the present moment involves bishops who abused adolescents (mainly male) and young priests. By using the word "scandal" without clearly including this new information, these latest revelations are in danger of being hidden (again)--and thus not addressed.
Saying "the scandal" implies that even up to the present moment, "children" (those younger than adolescents) continue to suffer abuse by priests. But over the past two years, only .005 percent of the Catholic clergy have had a credible accusation made against them (of course, this number should be ZERO).
According to the 2004 report by the John Jay College for Criminal Justice, most of the abuse was male-on-male predation involving adolescents--NOT "pedophilia" (involving pre-pubescent children). But the Bishops, at that time, downplayed (perhaps "buried") this information and let the public think that priests are "pedophiles" (the worst insult that can be given).
If the public schools and other religious bodies were investigated, the real scandal would be much worse. But sexual abuse within those institutions receives almost no press coverage.
My prayer is that the bishops will have the courage to deal with the fullness of the problem.
I agree with Sue and Pat. What gives me Hope and strengthens my Faith is the fact that the discussion is still ongoing ......
Listen to Sue and Pat, their comments are inspired and strongly reflect the concerns of MANY others. Bureaucratic solutions to further protect the bureaucracy are not acceptable. This is a personnel problem caused by a lack of faithfulness and orthodoxy.
If we are known by our fruits, the last half-century has produced a rotten maggot-infested crop. The Church is never so timely as when she is timeless. It's time we went back to the future and matured beyond the adolescence of the age.
Our Bishop needs to go far beyond addressing the pedophile problem. The entire homosexual faction that is part of the U.S. clergy needs to be stopped! Bishops and Cardinals are part of it, and unless I see evidence that this problem is addressed and corrected, I'm considering withholding all contributions. The Bishops and Cardinals who are part of this homosexual faction need to be thrown out - there is no other alternative!
Thanks Father for reading this at mass. Alex and I decided to fast from junk food this week and we're grateful for your inspiration!
You people are awesome!
Post a Comment