BISHOP'S LETTER WINS PRAISE AROUND DIOCESE

The complete text of the letter appears on page 3.

In his letter, Bishop Hubbard:

* thanked the task force he had appointed to review the diocesan policy of sexual misconduct by clergy (see separate article on this page as well as the text of the task-force report on page 10);

* announced changes in the diocesan policy, made at the recommendation of the task force (see the revised text of the policy on the website's home page);

* invited Catholics to offer their views "regarding any of the various issues surrounding this topic," to help him prepare for the Dallas meeting;

* apologized, "deeply and sincerely, to all who have been victimized by the sexual misconduct of clergy";

* expressed his sorrow for "the way [misconduct] has been handled by Church authorities like myself";

* apologized "to the faithful priests...who have been tarnished by this scandal"; and

* prayed "that the Holy Spirit...will guide us through this dark moment in our Church's history and enable us to emerge as a stronger, more prayerful faith community."

Reaction

The pastor noted that last weekend was far from the first time he'd addressed the issue of clergy sex abuse from the pulpit, and said parishioners have been supportive of him and associate pastor Rev. John Lanese "right along. They thanked us for our ministry to them, for the shepherding I've been doing. I don't think there's a lot of anger in the parishes, and I don't think there's a lot of anger at the Bishop."

Father Cairns believes the way some members of the Church hierarchy have handled the situation has been wrong. He said honesty about the problem was crucial.

"Being open about it and taking some very positive steps will help resolve it," he explained. "I told [parishioners] that this is not the first time we've encountered scandal in the Church -- but out of the bad can come a great deal of good."

Openness

St. Mary's parish in Clinton Heights had a unique situation: Since it was celebrating its 50th anniversary last weekend, Bishop Hubbard was there to officiate at Mass and agreed to read his letter to the people himself (see article on page 3).

"It made a wonderful difference," said the pastor, Rev. Jerome Gingras. "A number of people told me the letter meant so much coming from him," particularly since they could not only hear the Bishop's words, but also see his facial expression as he read them.

The pastor said the parish was completely silent each time the letter was read. (He asked a lector to read it at the Mass the Bishop did not attend.)

Appreciation for priests

People answered that call, he added: "They said, `I hope you know we love you and you're supported by us.' It was very supportive to me."

Before the letter was read, the pastor said he'd received a comment from one parishioner, written on a Bishop's Appeal envelope, that the person didn't intend to give to the collection until hearing from the Bishop.

"Well, now they've heard from the Bishop," Father Gingras responded. He said he's also heard positive comments from parishioners about articles in The Evangelist explaining that Bishop's Appeal donations have not been used for financial settlements with sexual abuse victims.

After Mass, the priest said, one parishioner suggested that the statute of limitations on prosecuting abusers be eliminated. Since Bishop Hubbard had asked in his letter for feedback from Catholics, Father Gingras told the parishioner to write him about the idea.

The pastor said he hasn't been as emotionally affected by the scandal as some of his peers.

"It's such a small amount of priests that have done this," he stated. "I hold my head high. I never find that to be too much of a burden to carry."

(05-23-02) [[In-content Ad]]