Sinful men and the power of the word

Many people have been deeply wounded by the institutional Church, and this in at least two distinct but related ways.

First, some individual priests have been guilty of grievous and, at times, heinous crimes.

Second, some bishops — including those in very senior positions — knowingly covered up wrongdoing and reassigned offenders, even when the risk of re‑offending was clearly grave.

It is therefore not surprising that many people cite these failures as reasons why they “walked away from the Church” long ago.

We need to talk about Peter

 

Basilica of Saint Apollinare

Sunday 29 March 2026

 Palm Sunday

Lectio Divina:*

Isaiah 50:4-7 Psalm 22(21)

Philippians 2:5-11 Matthew 26:14 — 27:66

Meditatio:

‘And he went out and wept bitterly’  (Matthew 26:75))

Commentary:

To experience betrayal is a gutting experience. This is all the more when the one who betrayed us was, perhaps, the closest and most loved of persons.  To experience betrayal as one who has perpetrated betrayal is also a gutting experience. This is all the more when the one who does the betraying does it to the closest and most loved of persons.