Letters & Articles from Archbishop Weisgerber

Pentecost Message

May 19, 2002

My dear brothers and sisters,

Today, on Pentecost Sunday, we mark the gift of the Holy Spirit, the creation of the Church and the end of our glorious Easter Season. Alleluia! This has been a particularly difficult Easter season for many of us given all the reporting and discussion of sexual abuse of minors by clergy. I wish to address a few words to all of you about this issue.

At Pentecost, God chose weak men and women to whom he gave His Spirit. The Church, which we are, is a mysterious mixture of the very human imbued, by God’s love, with the divine. It is always disheartening when our human weaknesses cloud over and overshadow the divine.

The fury of the present crisis is a result of revelations of clerical abuse and cover up in the Church of the United States. Canada faced a similar crisis in the 1980’s. The hysteria which results from such revelations is understandable, but can, in turn, generate a lot of false impressions.

First of all, we all agree that abuse of minors, particularly when it is perpetrated by priests whom they trust is an unacceptable crime and a grievous sin. Every effort must be made to come to the help of victims, their families and their communities. Society and, in particular the Church, must always be a very safe place for children.

While one case is too many, we need to recognize that a very small minority of priests are involved in this terrible scandal. We need to be vigilant and we need to deal decisively with wrongdoers, but we also must be careful not to tar every priest with the same brush. The vast majority of our priests are wonderful, faithful servants of the Gospel.

Following the problems of sexual abuse which were uncovered in Canada in the mid 1980’s, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops immediately formed an ad hoc committee, chaired by Archbishop Adam Exner, then in Winnipeg, to deal with the issue. The committee, composed of pastors, psychologists, psychiatrists, lawyers and social workers, studied, consulted and made a series of recommendations to the bishops, all of which were adopted by a Conference vote in 1989. The resulting protocol, entitled From Pain to Hope, outlines in a precise manner how issues of sexual abuse of minors are to be dealt with in the dioceses of Canada. This protocol was adopted by the Archdiocese of Winnipeg in 1990. The present chair of the response committee is Msgr. Ward Jamieson of St. Paul the Apostle Parish in Winnipeg He chairs a diocesan committee composed of a psychologist, a counsellor, a civil lawyer and a canon lawyer.

I wish to assure the people of the Archdiocese that I take very seriously the issue of the safety of children within the Church community. Attention is paid to this issue in the selection of candidates for the seminary, in seminary preparation and in the ongoing formation of the clergy. Should any report of sexual abuse of cbildren by members of the clergy come to my attention or to the attention of the committee, it will be dealt with immediately. No one who has abused a child will be given an appointment in any parish of our diocesan church. The Archdiocese is committed to cooperate completely with law enforcement and child welfare officers as the law of our Province stipulates.

I believe that the Archdiocese has taken all the steps necessary to provide a safe environment for our children. We need also to create a supportive environment for our priests. The media has a cruel way of spreading the shame of a few to the many. Pray for our priests and talk to them. Discuss this difficult issue with them, it will be freeing both for you and for them.

Pentecost, my dear people, reminds us again that the Church, composed of limited, vulnerable human beings, is holy, not because of who we are or what we do, but because of the Spirit which Jesus gained for us through his death and resurrection. Let us all rejoice in renewing and celebrating this great gift.

Devotedly yours in Our Risen Lord,

+ V. James Weisgerber
Archbishop of Winnipeg

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