The Fortnight for Freedom was a great success in our diocese. From the opening Red Masses in each of the seven deaneries to the closing Mass with a standing-room-only crowd at Holy Cross, Batavia, the faithful used those days to reflect on religious liberty and became energized knowing that no freedom is secure if we are unwilling to fight for it.

In the midst of this vast support from the laity, I heard a few grumblings. One came directly to me as one of my parishioners questioned why we weren’t talking about the real threat to liberty, namely, the abuse of children that has taken place in the Church and the Church’s failure to stem the tide. Of course this was said to me as the faithful came out of Mass so I was not able to engage the troubled parishioner in conversation. But I can now.

First of all, the Church is able to multi-task. Just because we focused much of our energy on the Fortnight for Freedom doesn’t mean we neglected other aspects of our faith. The sacraments were given, people were taught the faith, homilies were preached, etc., etc. And children were protected. During that fortnight, Bishop Malloy reviewed our norms to protect children and I was privileged to help him. We strengthened those norms and the bishop wrote extensively about the problem of child abuse in his column last week.

The point is this: just because we focus on one aspect of the Church, or celebrate another in some way, does not mean we neglect the areas where we can improve. In fact, it is safe to say that no where in the world today is a child safer than in a Church with a priest. We are the only institution in society that has seriously grappled with this problem and done something about it. Of course we made some horrible mistakes along the way, but we have put in so much energy to correct those areas where change was absolutely necessary. Concrete criticism brought concrete change.

Second, let us not lose sight of the fact that though the Church is made up of broken, fragile people, we are humanity’s best hope of bringing all that is good in people into the public square. Without us, the world would be so much less civilized.

The point is this: Wounded though we be, and sinners though we are, the Catholic Church is worth fighting for as the last, best hope of humanity. Those that despise us and seek our destruction offer nothing if we would disappear from the earth. The person who spoke to me after Mass certainly is not of their ilk. Her question was sincere, but she and others who critique us must look at everything we do.

The world is better because we are here. We are the human face of Christ on earth. In our imperfect way, we will continue to show forth the Good News of Christ Jesus. That’s why I was so excited about the Fortnight for Freedom. We got to show the country what was good about us. Surely, that is as important as acknowledging our failures. May God continue to give us strength; may His Spirit continue to inflame our hearts with the fire of Christ’s love.