This past Monday the Attorney General’s office released its final report after reviewing
all the priest and deacon files of our Diocese. You can read a helpful summary of that report
from the Diocese with the link included here: (https://www.dioceseoflansing.org/news/read-attorney-general-report-suggests-1970s-and-80s-peak-decades-alleged-instances-abuse). All sexual abuse by priests is a horrible crime against the survivors and a betrayal of their
priesthood. A majority of the allegations are from decades ago. While that provides no comfort, it does suggest that the Church has been making strides to create safer environments. Our Diocese works immediately with local law enforcement to report any allegation and to discern what accusations are true and which accusations are false.
In the wake of the publication of the report, Bishop Boyea has invited us to offer a day of
prayer and fasting on Friday, December 20 in reparation for all those harmed by clerical
misconduct. Following our regularly scheduled 9am Mass, Fr. Paul and I will be praying the
Rosary for this intention if you would like to join us. As usual the Church is open throughout
day if you would like to stop and bring the many needs of our Church to the Lord.
In closing, let me say how angry and hurt I am with priests who abuse their office. The
Lord is angry too. Please pray for victims, for those priests who misused their ministry, and for those priests who were falsely accused. Lord, have mercy! Please let me know if you have concerns or questions about the report or the diocese's actions. Be assured of my prayers for you.
God Bless,
Fr. Todd
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