It's been one year since the summer of scandal, and although many would argue that things have only

gotten worse in the Catholic Church since, because I believe that Jesus rose from the dead and founded

his one holy Catholic and apostolic church, and because he promised that the gates of hell would not prevail

against it, I have to believe that things

are actually getting better, even if the process is a very slow and painful one.

Ours is a time of great purification, and purification is an uncomfortable and unpleasant experience,

because it means that the doctor has to get to work on a deep infection

that is keeping the body sick. And removing that infection through fire, ice, chemotherapy,

or by cutting it out, takes time and patience and trust. My guess is that if we went around this room, in addition to the national and international

stories of which we are all very familiar, each one of you would be able to add a heartbreaking

story from your own diocese or your own religious order about a clerical crime or a clerical

sin or some terrible story about a priest who failed to keep his ordination

promises or his religious vows. Such stories aren't hard to find, and even if you're the type

of priest who is naturally disposed to hope, it's easy to let such stories tempt us to despair

because it seems like they never stop. Someone else has

been accused. Did you hear about father's so-and-so? That guy was only ordained two years and he left

the priesthood. That priest was a spiritual director and he was caught doing what? And then we start

thinking about our own lives

and about our own vocations.

What about my pre-conversion days?

What about my own moments of weakness?

What if someone makes something up about me?

...