MASSACHUSETTS
Berkshire Eagle
By Dick Lindsay
rlindsay@berkshireeagle.com @BE_DLindsay on Twitter
SPRINGFIELD — The Most Rev. Mitchell T. Rozanski has apologized to and seeks forgiveness from Western Massachusetts Catholics pained by the clergy sex abuse scandal, church closings and any disconnect from their local parishes.
In an open pastoral letter titled “The Wideness of God’s Mercy,” the bishop for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield also called upon diocesan priests to get out among parishioners and work to make them a vital part of their churches.
Rozanski issued the letter on Ash Wednesday, the start of Lent, which he says is a time of mercy and evangelization. The epistle also coincides with the Jubilee Year of Mercy, which was declared by Pope Francis in December and lasts through the end of the liturgical year on Nov. 20.
In the letter, the bishop called for clergy and lay people to continue the healing for the church’s “past sins and offenses.”
“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,” he writes. “The reality of this pain is that it still echoes many years later, as was given witness in our recent diocesan survey.”
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