Although as a Roman Catholic I am ashamed of the sins committed by a sick minority of priests and any attempts, no matter how well meaning, of certain members of our hierarchy to prevent the cries of the victims from being made public, I hope that we as a society resist the temptation to impugn the sincere integrity of the vast majority of priests and to disregard the profound value of the Church to our society as a whole.

One need only look to countries where the teachings of the Church have not reached or not been heeded -- where children are routinely sold into child labor or sexual slavery, with little or no local protest -- to see what the world would be like without the Judeo-Christian values championed by the Church.

The need for the message of the Church is only reinforced by those who betray it. When Christ Himself encountered hypocrisy amongst certain religious leaders of His day, He condemned those individuals but called for more -- not less -- unity amongst the faithful and devotion to God.

If the world were without sin, Christ would not have had to die upon the cross. But as long as we mortals -- clergy and laity, Christian and non-Christian -- are subject to all manner of temptation, there is a real and vital need for the love of God and neighbor that the Church helps keep alive in all our hearts, minds, and souls.

God bless and keep the Roman Catholic Church.