In the first months of 2008 I, together with our Archdiocesan leaders, visited all 20 Deaneries across the Archdiocese. Our purpose was threefold:

1) to update the members of our Parish Councils, Parish Finance Councils, parish Staff members, and other parish leaders about the global settlement of our civil lawsuits resulting from clergy sexual misconduct;

2) to give an accounting of our debts and how they would be repaid, and

3) to explain how we hope to emerge from this tragic chapter in the life of our Church.

I was inspired by the large number of parish leaders who came to these meetings. I was impressed by their openness, their forthright questions, their valid concerns, and their willingness to consider my plea for assistance in meeting this particular challenge that we face as the People of God of Los Angeles.

Almost everyone understood that our Archdiocese was dealing with over 550 lawsuits that covered 75 years: from 1931 through 2006. Everyone saw that some 90 percent of these incidents occurred in three decades: the 1950s, the 1960s, and the 1970s - reaching a peak in the early 1980s, and declining steadily ever since. From the mid-1980s forward, the Archdiocese began implementing ever more stringent policies and procedures to make sure that the Church was safe for everyone, especially children and youth.

Many questioned why the parishes across the Archdiocese in 2008 should have to bear responsibility for what happened many decades ago. After all, many of today's parishioners were not alive during those years or, those who were alive, have no responsibility for the actions of the clergy in bygone years.

It was suggested by some that the Church and our Archdiocese needed to confront this problem and our current situation by turning to methods by which large businesses and corporations might deal with such issues.

However, in the fullest sense we are not just a civil or business corporation. We are members of the One Body of Christ, the Church. As such, we live by different values than a corporation. The Church's rich teaching on the Mystical Body of Christ enlivened by the Spirit springs from St. Paul's insights in his letters:

For as in one body we have many parts, and all the parts do not have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ and individually parts of one another (Romans 12: 4-5).

As a body is one though it has many parts, and all the parts of the body, though many, are one body, so also Christ (1 Corinthians 12: 12).

In describing the unity which we have in and through the Eucharist, Paul notes:

Because the loaf of bread is one, we, though many, are one body, for we all partake of the one loaf (1 Corinthians 10: 17).

The meaning for us as Catholics is profound: we do not live in isolation from one another. Nor are our 288 parishes independent from one another - linked merely by some loose bond as a civil corporate model might suggest. Rather, through our Baptism we are all members of the Church, the Body of Christ. Our prayers and good works contribute to build up the Body of Christ; and our sins and failures diminish the Body of Christ. As Paul notes about the Eucharist: the bread is made up of many grains of wheat, but there is but one loaf - the Body of Christ; the wine is made up of many individual grapes, but only one spiritual drink - the Blood of Christ.

How does this understanding affect the sexual misconduct scandal? In a very important way, as members of the one Body of Christ we inherit all of the good done by those who have gone before us, but we also inherit the effects of the sins and failures of those who have gone before us.

In Old Testament times, the prophet Joshua reminded the people that the understanding of inheritance is central to God's revelation: "I gave you a land which you have not tilled and cities which you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant" (Joshua 24: 13).

Recall that the vast number of our churches, schools, and parish facilities were paid for and built by past generations of Catholics - ironically, the Catholics of the 1950s, the 1960s and the 1970s. You and I in the fullest sense "inherit" their gifts and sacrifices by having use of these facilities without the need to build most of them-they were passed on to us. That's what it means to belong to the One Body of Christ - the blessings of those who have gone before us are now ours.

But then there is the other side of the coin: the faults, sins, and mistakes of past years are also part of our inheritance - even though we were not the cause of those troubles. Men and women suffered personal damage in past decades, although we were unaware of the harm being done. But today those people have emerged to tell their stories and to look to the Church to take responsibility for what they suffered over the years.

Consequently, we are now the ones serving as leaders in our parishes, ministries and apostolates across the Archdiocese. Just as we were given our beautiful churches, schools, and other facilities without cost or sacrifice on our part, so too, we have inherited the problems of those past years.

Meeting this collective responsibility as members of the One Body of Christ is how the Church functions-not as a business or corporation functions.

Throughout our presentations in the Deaneries, Archdiocesan leaders did not place blame elsewhere - on prior Archbishops, pastors, principals or other leaders. Rather, in the spirit of bringing about healing and reconciliation in the Body of Christ, we assumed the responsibility for meeting the past difficulties. I openly accepted responsibility for the mistakes and misjudgments which I had made. I expressed my personal apologies to all of you in my name and in the name of the Church without assigning blame to people in different historical periods.

I have been overwhelmed by the interest and understanding of our leaders across the Archdiocese, by the fervent prayers for all victims and survivors, and by the heroic generosity so many of you are making to help with the repayment of this debt. Many parishes were able to make special grants to help retire the debt, while others were able to extend long-term loans with little or no interest. The members of some parishes even undertook small grassroots fund-raising efforts open to all those in the parish who felt called to participate.

Many of the priests of the Archdiocese donated a month's salary to help. Unanticipated checks continue to arrive in the mail from individuals, not only in our Archdiocese but elsewhere in California and beyond.

All of these actions are more than mere gestures. They demonstrate a deep understanding that we truly are members together of the One Body of Christ.

The Gospel accounts of the Resurrected Christ make it clear that his glorified body still bears wounds. So, too, does his Body the Church. Bearing these wounds - even as we cry out to Christ the Healer for the Spirit's healing balm - is our gift and task as we move forward to life in abundance wherein Christ will be all in all, and every tear shall be wiped away.

May Our Lady of the Angels continue to guide and lead us forward in the spirit of healing, reconciliation, unity, and recovery.