WASHINGTON—Cardinal Daniel N.
DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, President of the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), has issued the following
statement in response to Pope Francis’s Letter to the People of God, issued
earlier today. In his letter addressed to the whole People of God, the Pope
calls on the Church to join in acts of prayer and fasting in “combatting all
forms of abuse of power, sexual abuse and the abuse of conscience.”

Cardinal DiNardo’s full statement
follows:

“I am grateful to the Holy Father
for his Letter to the People of God,
responding to the Pennsylvania Grand Jury investigation and other revelations
that have surfaced. The very fact that
he opens the letter with the words of Saint Paul: ‘If one part suffers, all parts
suffer with it’ (1 Cor 12:25), shows that he is writing to all of us as a
pastor, a pastor who knows how deeply sin destroys lives. I find these words of
the Holy Father particularly helpful: ‘penance and prayer will help us to open
our eyes and our hearts to other people’s sufferings and to overcome the thirst
for power and possessions that are so often the root of those evils.’ These words must provoke action – especially
by the bishops. We bishops need to– and we
must – practice with all humility such prayer and penance.

“The Holy Father is also inviting,
and I am asking this as well, that all the faithful join in prayer and fasting as a way to help
foster conversion and genuine change of life wherever it is needed, even in the
shepherds of the Church. Jesus remarked
once, ‘This kind can only come out through prayer and fasting’ (Mark 9:29); a humble
reminder that such acts of faith can move mountains and can even bring about
true healing and conversion.

“On behalf of my brother bishops,
I offer that only by confronting our own failure in the face of crimes against
those we are charged to protect can the Church resurrect a culture of life
where the culture of death has prevailed.”

—

Keywords: United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops, USCCB, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo, Pope
Francis, Letter to the People of God, Pennsylvania
Grand Jury investigation, bishops, prayer, fasting, healing, conversion,
culture of life, humility, penance.

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Media Contact:

Judy Keane

202-541-3200

Source:: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops