Letter from the Bishop - Lent 2004

Dear Parishioners,

Next Wednesday the solemn season of Lent begins, a traditional time for prayer, penitence and sober reassessment of our lives before the Almighty. I invite you to join me in making this Lent a special season of prayer and atonement to those who have been victims of sexual abuse by members of the clergy and others acting in the name of the Church. Let us set aside, for the moment, all other considerations, to do together one important thing: to beg the God of healing to come to those who were hurt in our Church.

Let us set aside our opinions and explanations, our concerns about the image of the Church and the threat posed by civil litigation, and let us certainly set aside the excuses that too many of us have tried to use in these days of crisis and shame.

Let us remember the survivors. At tender ages, they were abused by those whom they thought they could trust, and even admired. Their lives were changed irrevocably by these crimes. But their lives can be changed again by God’s grace. Let the particular mission of our Church of Orange be to love these who were hurt when they were most vulnerable.

Please, pray for them this Lent, in whatever way seems appropriate to you. Let their healing be the intention behind your penitential and charitable acts. I will be doing the same. Let the ashes we receive next Wednesday express our solidarity with them and our hope for their spiritual liberty and renewal.

Sincerely yours in Christ,
Most Reverend Tod Brown
Bishop of Orange

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