Regarding the March 14 Metro article “More U.S. Catholics ponder exit from church”:

The reason to be Catholic is because one believes in the teachings of the church; it’s not a social club that should be judged by its worst members. Every large organization is going to have a small percentage of people who commit evil acts.

Fewer than 5 percent of Catholic priests have been accused of sexual abuse. The Catholic Church made widespread reforms in 2002 regarding abuse, and abuse cases have slowed to a trickle. The reforms are working. The vast majority of the abuse cases are from decades ago — before the 2002 reforms were put in place.

The Catholic Church is one of the safest places for children today. Compare this with public schools, which have not reformed and have unions that protect abusive teachers. Of course, we wouldn’t consider ending public schools because of a few bad teachers.

The Catholic Church is given no credit for the reforms of 2002, which many people don’t even know about because they are not publicized in the media. This is unfair and wrong.

Brian Wood, Gaithersburg

In his March 14 op-ed, “The greatest crime in U.S. history?,” George F. Will drew attention to the unfolding Catholic institutional criminal operation that has exploited children. The Pennsylvania report is only the latest report that, when combined with reports issued in other countries, provides the same sorts of gruesome details of criminal behavior by clerics. Then Catholic leadership used its unique powers not only to hide sexual predators but also to protect their priesthoods, thus perpetuating expansion of the number of victims.

Our bishops have tried to put assets beyond the reach of victims. Our bishops are fighting actions to modify statutes of limitations for child sexual crimes to avoid litigation against perpetrators of heinous actions.

We must cry out against these horrific practices, for justice for victims and for an accounting of crimes. We must support civil authorities shedding light onto these practices. And we must begin asking church leaders how they can credibly serve as moral authorities setting things right on this most fundamental issue.

We faithful Catholics are part of the problem. We demand too little. How much more will we put in the collection basket? Our Confirmation calls each of us to be more than disciples. We are called to be apostles and demand of our apostle bishops that they live up to their anointed leadership role.

Betty Walter, Annandale