Forgiveness in Our Church Today

Father Richstatter explores the meaning of forgiveness in the light of the sexual abuse scandal in the Church. ""While my own pain as a priest in this present crisis can in no way be equated with the pain of those directly harmed by sins and crimes of abuse, my life has been seriously affected,"" he writes. ""There are things I can no longer say or do as a priest--things I once considered perfectly innocent but which I see now as dangerous or open to misinterpretation. My teaching, my counseling, my ministry is more difficult.""