Hi Br. Ignatius,

If I may be permitted, I'd like to add a response I have used when speaking to others about the priest/abuse issue:

Christ warned us there would be wolves among us and false prophets but we must always remember that there are thousands and thousands of very good, decent priests in the Church.

Because the Church is filled with humans there will always be those who commit sin and we must remember that as a whole what the Church teaches is true and trustworthy since these teachings came from Christ first, then passed on down, unchanged throughout the centuries.

Yes there have been evil priests, some bad Popes, and others who committed evil, but they never changed the teachings of the Church. If a math teacher for example molested a student, that math teacher committed an evil act upon an innocent yet what the math teacher taught, ie: 1 + 1 = 2 and so on will still be a truth and unchanged no matter the actions of the teacher. We do not stop sending our children to schools, for it is not the school that did the evil or taught incorrectly, but we get rid of the evil-doer. The same holds true if a parent molests their own child (which saddly happens throughout the world's history). We do not get rid of the "institution" of the family. Just because some parents are abusive doesn't mean every mother or father is abusive. So it is with the R.C. Church.

For those people who use this as an excuse to leave the Catholic Church, going to another denominational church is not the answer to getting rid of evil minded molesters. Unfortunately, you will find that there are those kind of people everywhere, (ministers, Reverends, judges, policemen, boyscout leaders -- you name it.). Abandoning the true Church founded by Christ, the only Church that has the fullness of truth and complete teachings of Christ is not the answer.
Whoever does becomes separated from the Eucharist (the Body of Christ) and Christ's true Church.

Thank you and God bless,
from Claire