Where is Our Merciful God?

August 18, 2018
 
To My Dear Sisters and Brothers in Christ,

It is very difficult to write about and speak about the horrific clergy sexual abuse of children that has been reported in multiple dioceses across Pennsylvania this week, as well as many other dioceses and parishes throughout New York, the United States and other countries in recent decades. As a priest for 50 years and being in seminary formation for 12 years prior to ordination in 1968, I am deeply ashamed of this criminal violation of the sacred trust given to priests to proclaim the love and care of Jesus to our young parishioners. We need to move heaven and earth to uncover whatever horrors of sexual abuse remain secret and do everything in our power to prevent this from ever happening again. You have my unwavering personal commitment to a policy of zero tolerance of all forms of abuse at St. Joseph’s and the Church of the Holy Spirit. I hold myself and every person in a position of authority to the highest ethical and moral standards. Your children must be safe in our care at all times and with all people, lay and ordained.

In addition to the unthinkable suffering inflicted on individual young people and their families as these crimes are committed and kept secret for decades, there is the inevitable questioning of our Roman Catholic Church and our faith in the Lord. Where are our leaders? Why have priests, bishops and the hierarchy chosen to cover up these criminal acts? Why has the Church been dismissive of victims who need our tender love and trust and the healing power of Jesus? Where is our merciful God in all of this? This week the Jesuit priest and spiritual writer Fr. James Martin wrote that God is in your anger and my anger: “Those Catholics who are feeling angry today are…feeling God’s anger. This is God’s primary way of acting in the world: through our human emotions.” God is angry; God needs us to respond and help change His beloved Church so that this never happens again.

With heartfelt understanding of the mixed feelings you might have at this time, I encourage you to keep coming to Church. You are not Catholic because of any particular priest or pastor, myself included. As the baptized, you are the Church community, the People of God. By your baptism, you are called to lead and to bring your gifts, including your hurts and angers, to the Church and to each other. In coming to Mass each Sunday, we joyfully worship our good and gracious God in communion with one another; we give thanks for all that God has given each of us even in troubled times; and we receive the Bread of Eternal Life in the Eucharist, the Bread that sustains us and gives us life.

With humility, I ask for your prayers. Please pray for the victims of clergy abuse; please pray for the abusers that they will know the enormity of what they have done; please pray for our community and staff. In the coming weeks our parish staff and parishioners were already planning to explore how all of us, together, can share the responsibility of our Church mission. We are even more committed now to the principle that we all—lay women and men, deacons and priests—are meant to collaboratively lead the Church into the future. Feel free to be in touch with me or any member of our pastoral staff to share your perspectives on this painful chapter in the history of our Catholic Church. Please be assured of my prayers for you always.

With gratitude for you,
Father Jim Schwartz
Pastor