That was clear.

It asked difficult questions and made points that made me uncomfortable.

I read the letter more than once.

I thought about throwing it away.

I thought about writing about it, changed my mind and then read it again before putting it away.

There were not easy answers to their concerns.

So I thought about it over the past month. I thought about it a lot.

The letter was signed by one man, but he indicated he was representing “Sunday and daily Mass attenders” who described themselves as “The Church.”

The letter took issue with my columns about a proposed piece of legislation that would allow victims of sexual abuse — and more specifically those abused by clergy — to have a one-year period in which they could bring suit against their abusers.

I saw it as a chance for victims to get justice, a chance to right a wrong.

The letter writer pointed out that the priest abuse had been “exceedingly hurtful to us.”

I had not given that much thought.

I talked to victims and was horrified by their stories of abuse, of their accounts of “constant terror.”

When I write, I look for the truth, sometimes to right a wrong, to hopefully make a difference. It bothered me that the Catholic Church was spending money with professional lobbyists to defeat the bill.

It bothered me that the church came out with its own proposal to compensate victims without acknowledging what had or had not been done by church leadership.

It especially bothered me that the church asked victims for silence in exchange for compensation.

I never thought about the feelings of what the letter-writer described as “us folks in the pews at Mass.”

The letter said my efforts were hurtful to those church-goers.

They said they believed that an “anti-church” cottage industry had grown out of the abuse scandals over the years, citing movies and talk-show hosts.

Perhaps what bothered me most was the suggestion that these stories, my columns specifically, were meant to hurt them, to tear open a fresh wound and prevent the healing.

Let me use the words from the letter:

“It is a sure thing that other groups, religious or cultural, are not often treated in the media to the insults to which we folks in The Church are treated on almost a daily basis. There would be loud protests from these groups if they were treated in this fashion. It should be noted that sexual abuse committed by members of other groups is rarely mentioned in the press. So where do we go from here.”

Hopefully, we can better understand each other.

On Sunday mornings, I often find myself driving by the local Catholic Church. Watching the stream of people coming and going, I’ve wondered on more than one occasion how they can continue to support, to give money to an organization that covered up the abuses of children for so long.

Perhaps I saw them as blind.

What the letter revealed is they are not blind, that “those in the pews” were hurt gravely by the priest scandals, and going forward continues to be difficult. Maybe more importantly, their faith has allowed them to persevere and they expect more from their leadership.

I hope so.

I can’t promise this issue will go away, or that I will not write about it again. It has deep roots in this community with many victims who still live here, and publicly acknowledging issues is often the fastest way to find a solution.

I hope going forward that those in the pews don’t see my efforts, or those of any journalist, as hurtful, but rather as helpful, a way forward.

“We members of The Church are watching and praying as justice is carried out honestly for those affected by this terrible abuse of years past,” the letter concluded.

We both want the same thing.