With the news that the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, in the United States, has filed for bankruptcy in order to continue to be able to compensate the victims of clerical sexual abuse and “continue the essential ministries of the Church”, ordinary Archbishop Jerome Listecki reminds us about the true reason for the crisis his diocese – and the Church as a whole – is in:
“For those of you who may feel anger and resentment that we have come to this moment, STOP. We are here because of one reason: Priests sexually abused minors.”
The temptation to look scornfully at the victims who are now coming forward and request some form of acknowledgement and compensation (financially or otherwise) is strong, and made even stronger by the many dubious claims among the honest ones. But in the end, the reason for the current situation is a simple one: priests abused minors. It happened. No matter how often it happened, even once is too much.
In Caelo et in Terra 
He was my former bishop, and he is a good one. Pray for him and his diocese, because he is doing and saying all the right things to lead the victims and the Church toward healing and moving forward. I pray that others in a similar situation follow his example.