Woe to the shepherds who mislead and scatter the flock of my pasture, says the LORD. (Jer. 23:1)

This scripture has resonated in my heart for over 17 years when the first news of the scandalous actions of abuse by priests come to light. In 2002, I was in the seminary when the Boston Globe uncovered the abuse of priests and the cover-up by leaders in the Archdiocese of Boston. Then revelations in other areas of the country followed. Just a little over a year ago, we heard of the predations of Mr. Theodore McCarrick, (once the Archbishop of Washington, now laicized from the priesthood), followed by the decades of abuse and cover-up in certain dioceses in Pennsylvania.

Now the storm has hit home, as our Diocese of Wichita released on September 19th the list of priests who have been found with a credible accusation. (Due to the timing of printing the bulletin, I cannot provide the names or number of the priests, but you can visit HERE to learn more.)
How saddened and ashamed I am by the priests who betrayed the trust of parents and children. There are no excuses for the horrible trauma the victims experienced through these criminal and sinful actions. These were pastors and shepherds whose deplorable actions have misled and scattered not just the individual victims, but a large number of the flock in general.
These actions are a grave violation of the sacrament of Holy Orders. A priest, who serves in the Person of Christ, should sacrifice himself for the good of the Church by imitating Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross. The sacrifice of a priest is to be for the benefit of the parish expressed in thoughts, words, and actions. The people of God deserve sacrificial priests.

The Church longs for and is in need of a humble repentance and an ongoing conversion and renewal of Her priests. Renewal and conversion of the Church must be ongoing and permanent. This renewal requires transparency to ensure the victims of abuse will always deserve our prayers, love and support, and predators are named and face justice in civil courts. The conversion of the entire clergy, bishops and priests, must flow from voluntary and regular penance in reparation for sin, and offer prayers for the victims of abuse and for the sanctification of the Church. These sacrifices and prayers are to mold the hearts of bishops and priests to become like the Sacred Heart of Jesus, which is full of sacrificial love and mercy. Pride – bishops and priests protecting their own power – is the sin that has brought us this crisis; a renewal in humility and the evangelical councils are the virtues to rescue us.

I’ll close with a direct appeal to those whose confidence in the Church, and especially in our diocese, has been shaken. We worship a God who became Man and experienced all things but sin, including the full range of emotions you may be feeling with this news. Christ knew the sorrow and disappointment of feeling abandoned in the Garden, and He experienced righteous anger in cleansing the Temple—Zeal for your house will consume me. (Jn 2:17) This zeal should motivate us, as well.

In a corrupt age, God called St. Francis to, “Repair my house, which is falling into ruins.” This, too, here and now, is our own call. We begin the repairs by keeping faith in Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Cornerstone upon which the Catholic Church stands, and by partaking in the sacraments that are a sharing in His Divine Life. Having reinforced the foundation of our faith, we build from there. You and I are right not just to expect accountability and holiness from those consecrated to priestly and religious life and those who teach our children and care for the needy in our institutions, but to demand it. The publication of credibly accused Wichita priests is merely a starting point; now is the time for saints, whose passion for Christ and His Church burns with a purifying love. I pray that you join me in recommitting to repair our Mother Church, disfigured by those priests and bishops whom you trusted, and restore Her to beauty.

In the Immaculate Heart of Mary,

Fr. Andrew Heiman