Bishop's Schedule: Schedule of Bishop George O. Wirz Sunday, January 19, 2003 9:30 a.m. -- Preside and Preach at Celebration of the Eucharist, Resurrection 2003, Chula Vista Conference Center, Wisconsin Dells

Mother Teresa would have reached out to victims
of sexual abuse

		The Bishop: A Herald of Faith Bishop William H. Bullock

So many different topics surface this week as I prepare to write my weekly column that it becomes difficult to narrow the choice.

First, I have always prayed that God guide my thoughts and my pen that I may state clearly and unambiguously the teaching of the Church on the issues of our day. Second, that the words chosen will add to clarify in concrete and consistent ways how we can do something about the teaching in today's society.

"Mother Teresa would be the first to reach out to the victims of sexual abuse by clergy. She would lovingly embrace them and assure them of Christ's love. She would hold out to each one a new hope for reconciliation in Jesus."

Sexual abuse by clergy, human cloning, and the beatification of Mother Teresa of Calcutta are but three recent topics that touch our lives as Catholics.

Mother Teresa

I have pondered what Mother Teresa would have said had she been alive today. Whenever a government official asked her why she wished to travel so much, or to come to a particular country, she would simply say, "I want to make the love of God present to your people."

Mother Teresa believed in her head and knew in her heart that the poverty of the world results from greed and imbalances in human rights; but she more significantly touched on what she termed, the greater poverty: "to be unloved, unwanted, rejected, and lonely."

With that love burning in her heart, Mother Teresa founded the Missionaries of Charity in 1946. What untold blessings she and members of her order have brought to the world.

Works of love

Whether it was a child or an elderly person, Mother Teresa would be there to hold and feed the child. For adults she would see that they were bathed and fed and all so often she would prepare them for death.

Whatever you do, she would say, do it with love. So strong was her conviction that she would say if you don't and can't do it out of love, don't do it.

Mother Teresa would be the first to reach out to the victims of sexual abuse by clergy. She would lovingly embrace them and assure them of Christ's love. She would hold out to each one a new hope for reconciliation in Jesus.

Mother Teresa would speak with confidence to the heart of victims of sexual abuse, saying God will heal you for He loves you.

A dreadful toll

As we all know, and painfully so, sexual abuse by clergy has taken a dreadful toll on first of all the victims, on the Bishops who must give an inordinate amount of time to these matters, on the priest offenders themselves, Review Boards, and listening sessions, to name but a few.

I personally have placed the challenges in the area of sexual abuse in our Diocese of Madison under the intercessory care of Mother Teresa. I have prayed long hours asking her protection and healing to victims and their families, asking her to heal our priests of the horrendous sin and sickness against our youth.

Whatsoever you do . . .

In 1998, when the renovation of our Bishop O'Donnell Holy Name Memorial Chapel began, I designated that we would have a stained glass window in honor of Mother Teresa and I quietly asked her intercession before God to aid us in all we do in our Diocese.

From the moment her image was put up, as I went to chapel that first night, I felt her protective presence and a new peacefulness in our chapel.

She will teach us how to love in Christ - for in the window image she holds the words of Christ: "Whatsoever you do to the least of my children, that you do unto me" (Matthew 25:40). She lived these words in the deepest love and commitment. She is our special patroness.

We must also come up with a comprehensive plan to respond to the clergy child sexual abuse scandal.

Archbishop Dolan of Milwaukee has developed a clear and courageous plan, one from which we can add to our own plan and policy in the Diocese of Madison. The Charter and Norms are clear and will be fully implemented in this Diocese.

I ask both your prayers and support. As I continue to minister to victims, I realize the gravity and pain of the betrayed trust and I ask your prayers.

The other topics that cry out for examination and teaching are: the war in Iraq and the principles of a just war; embryonic stem cell research; and human cloning of a new baby. Human dignity and rights are at stake in all of them.

Bishop's Letter

Dear Friends in Christ:

The combined collection for Latin America and Home Missions will be taken the weekend of Jan. 25 and 26. The goal of these collections is to assist those poor, rural, or remote dioceses and parishes that do not have the resources on their own to provide for the most basic ministries and programs.

Parishes and people in Central and South America as well as in our own country depend on our generosity. Home Missions supports 82 dioceses in providing aid to mission parishes, religious education and training of the ordained, religious, and lay ministers. This assistance strengthens Catholic identify and builds Catholic community.

The collection for Latin America underwrites pastoral programs and pilot projects that will have long-term impact on the people and the Church. Among its priorities are projects promoting catechetics, religious education, evangelization, pastoral outreach, and formation of lay leadership upon which the church in Latin America is dependent. Assurance of safe facilities for worship and gathering of the Catholic community is also a high priority.

Over two-thirds of the Catholic Church worldwide lives in countries with significant pockets of poverty and need. We are brothers and sisters with them in Christ. Please be generous in giving a helping hand to members of our Catholic family less blessed than are we.

Grace, Mercy, and Peace,

Most Reverend William H. Bullock
Bishop of Madison