Acta Benedicti Pp. XVI 311

requires if the cohesion and moral focus of the community are to be main-

tained.

As my predecessor, Pope John Paul II taught, ''The person principally

responsible in the Diocese for the pastoral care of the family is the Bishop ...

he must devote to it personal interest, care, time, personnel and resources,

but above all personal support for the families and for all those who ... assist

him in the pastoral care of the family''.13 It is your task to proclaim boldly

the arguments from faith and reason in favor of the institution of marriage,

understood as a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman, open to

the transmission of life. This message should resonate with people today,

because it is essentially an unconditional and unreserved ''yes'' to life, a

''yes'' to love, and a ''yes'' to the aspirations at the heart of our common

humanity, as we strive to fulfill our deep yearning for intimacy with others

and with the Lord.

Among the countersigns to the Gospel of life found in America and else-

where is one that causes deep shame: the sexual abuse of minors. Many of you

have spoken to me of the enormous pain that your communities have suffered

when clerics have betrayed their priestly obligations and duties by such

gravely immoral behavior. As you strive to eliminate this evil wherever it

occurs, you may be assured of the prayerful support of God's people through-

out the world. Rightly, you attach priority to showing compassion and care

to the victims. It is your God-given responsibility as pastors to bind up the

wounds caused by every breach of trust, to foster healing, to promote recon-

ciliation and to reach out with loving concern to those so seriously wronged.

Responding to this situation has not been easy and, as the President of

your Episcopal Conference has indicated, it was ''sometimes very badly

handled''. Now that the scale and gravity of the problem is more clearly

understood, you have been able to adopt more focused remedial and disci-

plinary measures and to promote a safe environment that gives greater pro-

tection to young people. While it must be remembered that the overwhelm-

ing majority of clergy and religious in America do outstanding work in

bringing the liberating message of the Gospel to the people entrusted to their

care, it is vitally important that the vulnerable always be shielded from those

who would cause harm. In this regard, your efforts to heal and protect are

13 Familiaris Consortio, 73.