As all of you are almost certainly aware by now, last Tuesday saw the publication of a grand jury report in Pennsylvania detailing the unspeakable crimes committed by priests in various dioceses, as well as the equally disturbing efforts to conceal those heinous acts rather than work towards both healing and justice for the victims. It was published shortly after the bulletin deadline, and so I regret not having the chance to deal with all the anger, frustration, betrayal, and many other emotions which have been stirred up by this in a timelier fashion.
 
However, the past week has given me more time to process and to grieve what has happened. I came of age in the Church during the initial revelations that shook our nation in 2002. In many ways I have never known life in the Church without some aspect of scandal being a part of our history as Catholics in this country. The men who were ordained during or after those terrible times have all, to one degree or another, pledged their lives to restore people’s confidence and trust in the Church as the true representation of Jesus Christ here on earth. None of this lessens the pain felt by those who have been betrayed, but rather it serves as a reminder of how the flock suffers when pastors don’t take seriously their role to care for, protect, and serve God’s children.
 
Although civil law places many of these offenses past the statute of limitations, knowing that people’s trust has been betrayed and their innocence preyed upon is both sickening and infuriating. As I read the reports, I cycled through various stages of visceral horror and rage. People now are naturally looking to the hierarchy of the Church to work to root out those who have hurt their flocks, and in many cases, to step down themselves due to their insufficient concern for doing what is right for victims and their families. To heal as a Church, we must continue to call for justice for those who have been wronged, and to pray for a day when we no longer have to ask for something that should be an absolute bare minimum: that bishops and priests are forthright in rooting out anything or anyone that is a danger to the physical, psychological, and spiritual well-being of their flock.
 
There is a movie that came out in the last few years that deals with the issue of priest abuse, and how it affects one individual who had to carry the heavy burden of what his abuser had done to him for years. Towards the end of the movie, the victim confronts a different priest, one who had never been an abuser, about how he had processed the terrible things that his brother priests had done through the years. The victim becomes enraged when he finds out that this priest had cried over the death of his dog, but never shed a tear at all the pain felt by these children, their families, and those that they struggled to love in their later years. It represents his true failure as a priest. It is not enough to merely avoid victimizing the people left in our care. He is not a good priest just because he did the bare minimum; part of his call requires him to enter into the suffering of his flock and truly be there with them.
 
As priests, we are called to die to ourselves every day in order to create more space in our hearts to love as Christ did. We are called to empty ourselves completely so that Christ may be made present to His people more perfectly. To love as Christ did means to not just suffer with people, but to suffer for them. I’m sorry that the men named in this report, as well as the others who are already known and those who may one day come to light, have failed so terribly in their God-given responsibility. I pray that anyone who has suffered at the hands of the Church may find healing, and I also pray that they know they can come to me or anyone here in our region to begin this process. I ask you, as the flock here in our region, to pray with us as well.
 
Pray that the institutional rot that has allowed this suffering to happen may be replaced with a system of transparency that prioritizes people over public perception. Pray that victims of abuse may find peace and healing, both through justice and through God’s grace. And please pray for me, for Fr. Lambert, and for all priests; that we strive to live out with integrity our primary vocation, which is “to be united more closely every day to Christ the High Priest, who offered himself for us to the Father as a pure Sacrifice, and with him to consecrate ourselves to God for the salvation of all.”
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McCullough