Read the Words

The national meeting of the U.S. Conference of Bishops ended yesterday. You can read all the statements and addresses that came out of the meeting by going to the Conference Web site. The Presidential Address by Bishop Wilton D. Gregory, was candid and pastoral. It's worth a read. Click here.

Some excerpts:

On healing the sex abuse crisis:
"Among those with whom we Bishops have an urgent obligation to re‑establish communio are the victims of sexual abuse by clergy. Our solid steps to prevent future abuse must be accompanied by a healing and reconciliation with those who were abused.I understand that this is not something that will always be sought immediately by those who have been harmed nor will it be easy for any of us. The victims among us have lived with their pain and their grief too long; too many have experienced that some of us did not act like Good Shepherds when they came to us.That, however, does not release us from our responsibility to continue to seek reconciliation with them. Let us pursue and fulfill that obligation of actively reaching out to the victims in our midst with perseverance and with love, all the while praying to the Lord that our brothers and sisters who have been victimized will, with God’s grace, find the strength in their hearts to forgive us for what they have suffered."

On seeing the divine in the human:
"So often, our vision of ourselves is limited merely to the human.We see ourselves only in terms of our own strengths and limitations; or in terms of the tasks we have before us on any given day; or in terms of the relationships with others that we choose or refuse. God’s presence in our lives, however, should move each of us to meet and embrace the divine within."

On humility in the heirarchy:
"Even we Bishops need to reflect on our own need to accept just criticism, to apologize, and to forgive; not only in our relationships with the faithful, but in our commerce with one another."