The news about the Catholic Church lately has been bleak, there’s no arguing it. It’s easy to focus all our energy on the anger, outrage, and sorrow. I’ve contributed my fair share of anger into the world about this topic, even here on this blog! As things have settled down some, I’ve started to take stock in the responses around the church. Some of my friends live in places where bishops are not standing up saying, this is wrong or this should be investigated or we have a lot of work to do. One of my cousins lives in Chicago, where the archbishop said the pope has a bigger agenda.

What?!

I am so so sorry that you do not have leaders with backbones. It would make this whole scandal a lot easier to deal with because a strong leader empowers his clergy to go back to their parishes and build up the kingdom of God by providing what the parishioners need to (1) hear, (2) see, and (3) do. Some of the most important conversations I’ve seen happen are priests in Detroit saying something along the lines of “No, this is wrong. I am not going to stand for it,” and then seeking truth and justice by openly performing public prayer, repentance, and engaging in really tough dialogue with laypeople.

My priest friends have mentioned before that if you trust that your bishop will have your back, it’s easier to feel like you can be creative or step out into the unknown. Last week, I attended an event with a diocesan priest who quite frankly said we will be moving through uncharted territories as rot is continued to be exposed, justice is served, and the church heals. We do not know when, what, how, or where the answer might come from, but if the first steps are rooted in fasting, prayer, and penance, it will certainly be a good first step.

Today, I sent Archbishop Vigneron a letter that, in part, thanks him for his responses to the current church scandals. From the time before the Grand Jury report in Pennsylvania was released, Archbishop Vigneron has been at the forefront, proactively speaking in public forums like WJR radio and ensuring us, those in his spiritual care, are aware that these things are not of God.

His response to Archbishop Vigano’s letter reminded us that we have nothing to fear in the face of Truth and that we should seek it. These are extremely biblical sentiments that remind us truth is light and light exposes darkness and in the light there can be healing. Wounds, physical and emotional and spiritual, all fester in the dark. These strong statements give me much peace as did the open letter outlining the Archdiocese of Detroit’s processes to ensure children are protected here. A reminder that we have goodness in the hierarchy, but more importantly a guidepost for the coming days.

The truth is, we do know how the story ends and that is with Christ victorious. Getting there might be the challenging part, but Archbishop Vigneron is captaining our ship like an archbishop should (at least in my opinion). It is encouraging to read these strong statements from someone in the hierarchy, but even more so is seeing the fruits that it bears in the archdiocese as a whole.

Local priests are responding in beautiful ways. When our archbishop is open, honest, forthright, and encouraging to people living holy lives, focused on discipleship and transformation of heart, it is so obvious in the culture of the community. This is a very noninclusive list of the activities focused on healing, penance, and reparation that I’ve seen advertised over the past few days (Please let me know if you have something happening in your parish, I will happily add it).

To be quite frank, the responses I see from many bishops and even the pope himself have left me quite upset at the inadequacy. In the face of child sexual abuse and coverups, I don’t think any response is ever going to measure up and it certainly can’t undo the damage to those victims and survivors. It just can’t.

However, by being a leader in our archdiocese, Archbishop Vigneron is fostering an environment where our parish priests can host these events, our laypeople can talk about it, and we can continue to shed light and pray for the truth to be brought even more into the open.

In these dark days of the church, there are small lights. And less you think this is ONLY Detroit, I will point you towards our neighbors in Lansing where Bishop Boyea will be celebrating a Mass of Reparation and hosting a Holy Hour at their cathedral, I have heard from local friends that many parishes are hosting similar Masses on this day and it’s being encouraged diocese-wide to be one of prayer and fasting in reparation.

The news is dark, I don’t write about these consolations to distract from the work ahead. I write about it to provide hope, a small reminder that we’re not alone. Even if you live in a diocese with a terrible response or no response to these scandals, I am here with you, the Church is with you in prayer. We will continue to seek truth, to root out the evil, God is with us in this endeavor and the gates of hell will never prevail (even if they might come close).