By calling all the 24 Irish bishops to Rome for a summit in advance of his pastoral letter to the Irish people, Pope Benedict is clearly demonstrating how seriously the Church crisis in Ireland is being taken in Rome.
Everyone in the Church has been convulsed by the punishing series of revelations of abuse and reckless Church governance culminating in the Ryan and Murphy Reports. Before that we had Ferns.
Somewhat like the bewildered disciples after Good Friday, Irish Catholics are left stunned and in shock and in search of leadership.
The first reaction of people of faith to a crisis must, by necessity, be prayer. And this prayer must impel the Church in Ireland as a Christian community to action.
At the end of the Gospel of St John the role of the Petrine Ministry, which has been entrusted to Pope Benedict XVI, is that of protecting the flock entrusted to him by God and confirming the Christian community in faith. Faith in God and in His Church has been tested. But, as St Peter puts it, faith that has been tested is like a metal that has been through the furnace, and emerged purified of all its imperfections as precious gold.
Pope Benedict XVI, in his bid to address the fallout from the child abuse crisis in Ireland, is preparing an unprecedented pastoral letter which he will soon address to the faithful of Ireland: bishops, priests and people.
Many eyes are looking to Rome and many ordinary faith-filled Catholics are looking for the leadership that will help our Church overcome the tide that has engulfed us collectively for too long.
Having read the Ryan and Murphy Reports and having already been briefed by Cardinal Seán Brady and Archbishop Diarmuid Martin, the Pope is acutely aware of the devastating revelations in the reports. He is also aware of the depth of anger, hurt, scandal and disappointment felt by so many people in Ireland. As a Christian community, the Church in Ireland is looking to the Pope - to the Holy Father - for hope and inspiration: the hope that the Gospel and the saving message of Jesus Christ, inadequately lived as it all too often is, has lost none of its eternal power to transform lives and light up the darkness.
