WASHINGTON (DC)
Catholic News Service
May 14, 2019
Auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron of Los Angeles said his new book addressing the Church’s sexual abuse crisis and urging Catholics to “stay and fight for the body of Christ” comes from his “pastor’s heart.”
“It is simply my statement coming out of my whole life as a Catholic — 33 years as a priest, almost four years as a bishop,” he said in a podcast posted on YouTube May 13, the release date of his book “Letter to a Suffering Church: A Bishop Speaks on the Sexual Abuse Crisis.”
“It was my pastor’s heart that wanted to say something to the people of God,” added the bishop.
The book was published by Word on Fire Catholic Ministries, which was founded by Bishop Barron. He gave an overview of the 125-page book in the podcast with Brandon Vogt, Word on Fire’s content director.
In both the podcast and the book’s preface, Bishop Barron strongly emphasized he is speaking for himself and that the new volume is not an official statement of the U.S. bishops.
It is his attempt, he explained, to respond to the pastoral needs of Catholics demoralized by the abuse crisis and who are grieving over what it is doing to the Church. He said he wants to give them encouragement and hope and show “that there is a clear path forward for us today.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.