(CNN) A Catholic diocese in Kentucky said Friday it was "bullied and pressured" into a making a premature statement about a viral video showing a confrontation between a Native American elder and a Catholic school student, according to a letter the diocese's bishop wrote to parents.

The Rev. Roger J. Foys said in the letter that the leadership of the Diocese of Covington was "being pressured from all sides to make a statement" about the video clip.

"We are sorry that this situation has caused such disruption in the lives of so many," Foys wrote. "We apologize to anyone who has been offended in any way of our statements which were made with good will based on the information we had. We should not have allowed ourselves to be bullied and pressured into making a statement prematurely, and we take full responsibility for it."

Foys wrote he especially wanted to apologize to Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann -- the teen featured prominently in the video -- his family and all the Covington families affected by the video.

"Nicholas unfortunately has become the face of these allegations based on video clips. This is not fair. It is not just," Foys wrote.