This past Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph observed a Day of Prayer in Atonement for Those Harmed by Sexual Abuse in the Church. All of our parishes were asked to offer Mass and other prayers for this intention.

The sexual abuse scandal is one of the saddest chapters in the church’s history. The scandal involved representatives of the church, priests and bishops, violating their promises to God and the church by using innocent children or vulnerable adults for sexual pleasure. In so doing, they contradicted the church’s sexual moral teaching and inflicted grave emotional, psychological and spiritual harm on their victims. The scandal also included the failure of bishops to receive victims with openness and respect, to remove abusive priests and to protect those entrusted to their pastoral care.

I am grateful to the brave victims who overcame many obstacles…