To the San Diego Catholic Community
The horrific stories coming out of Pennsylvania this week about the abuse of minors by priests are sickening. These are acts which rob the souls and violate the bodies of the innocent in the most brutal way imaginable. Their evil is compounded by the complicity of the leadership of the Church, which magnified abuse in so many instances by placing fear of scandal and a clerical culture above the foundational need to protect minors at all costs.
It doesn’t matter that the events took place in Pennsylvania and not California, it only matters that as many as 1,000 children—maybe more—were raped, abused and brutalized by members of clergy and we, as priests and bishops, didn’t do enough to stop it.
This is a profound moment in the life of the Church.
Below is a letter I sent to every priest, deacon and staff member at the Diocese. I’m sharing this because it’s critically important and because you need to know that any words you hear are being backed-up by action.
+Bp. McElroy
Click HERE to read the letter.