Cardinal Tobin reflects on Advent as a time of profound hope

My dear sisters and brothers in Christ,

Advent is a time of longing and of profound hope. We long for justice, peace, and unity among all members of God’s family. We wait for the coming again of our Lord Jesus Christ, who heals us from all evil, and who forgives us from every sin—personal and institutional. 

Our Church begins again—a new year of grace—each Advent. What better time than now to implore the Holy Spirit of God, in the words of Pope Francis,  “to initiate everyone—priests, religious and laity—into this ‘art of accompaniment’ which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5)” (Evangelii Gaudium, 169).

Respect for the mystery, and the dignity, of other persons is called for as we seek to accompany victims of sexual abuse, especially when the abuse has been perpetrated by clerics. As Pope Francis said in his 2018 letter to the People of God about the sexual abuse crisis (see full text below):

It is essential that we, as a Church, be able to acknowledge and condemn, with sorrow and shame, the atrocities perpetrated by consecrated persons, clerics, and all those entrusted with the mission of watching over and caring for those most vulnerable.  Let us beg forgiveness for our own sins and the sins of others.   An awareness of sin helps us to acknowledge the errors, the crimes and the wounds caused in the past and allows us, in the present, to be more open and committed along a journey of renewed conversion.

It was in this spirit of “renewed conversion” and of healing, hope and synodality that my friend Mark Williams and I responded to the invitation from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) to offer our reflections to the bishops of the United States at their General Assembly in Baltimore, MD, last month. 

Continue reading Cardinal Joseph Tobin’s latest newsletter in English or Spanish.