Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, sounded hopeful after the summit, saying that the testimony of the sex-abuse survivors “revealed for us, again, the deep wound in the Body of Christ. Listening to their testimonies transforms your heart. I saw that in the faces of my brother bishops.”

He restated his desire for a collaborative effort between clergy and laity to succeed in their goal to purify the Church. “There is an urgency in the voice of the survivors to which we must always respond,” the cardinal said. “I am also aware that our next steps can be a solid foundation from which to serve also seminarians, religious women, and all those who might live under the threat of sexual abuse or the abuse of power.”

Let us all ardently pray in the weeks ahead that our Church leaders among the clergy and laity redouble their efforts to identify, confront and eradicate, as Pope Benedict XVI termed it, the “filth” in the Church.

God bless you!