MASSACHUSETTS
Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield – iobserve
By Peggy Weber
SPRINGFIELD – Springfield Bishop Mitchell T. Rozanski offers an invitation and a challenge in his new pastoral letter, “The Wideness of God’s Mercy,” released Feb. 10, Ash Wednesday.
In the letter, he offers words of welcome and notes that the letter was inspired by the Jubilee Year of Mercy declared by Pope Francis. However, he said it also was a direct response to the people of the Diocese of Springfield.
“When we began this process of looking at our evangelization, one of the suggestions was to reach out to people – both those who are in the pews and those who are Catholics but not practicing their faith,” he said. “We wanted to ask them different questions about their perceptions of the faith or perhaps why they don’t practice.”
More than 3,000 people took the diocese’s online survey and many wrote comments. Bishop Rozanski said he wanted to assure those people that they had been heard.
He wrote in his pastoral letter: “There are many people hurting in our Catholic community from the pain caused by our past failings as a diocese, as well as the grievous actions of some who ministered in our church. The reality of that pain is that it still echoes many years later.”
He adds, “Before I ask anything of you, let me as your bishop be the first to apologize and ask your forgiveness.”
He said he was sorry for any pain caused by parish and church closings, the sexual abuse scandal and any other occurrences. He noted that most people encounter church on the parish level and that more effort must be made to make people feel welcome and accepted.
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