A Christmas message from Cairns Diocese
BY the time this is published before Christmas, our Church will have had considerable coverage of its failures in the care of vulnerable children at the Royal Commission.
The greatest pain has been that of those who have survived such abuse yet carry the burden throughout their lives. For some these wounds are painfully re-opened each time this is covered in the media. All Catholics are shamed and embarrassed by this.
A curious 20th century thinker Ludwig Wittgenstein (April 26, 1889-April 29, 1951) concluded his complex major works with the enigmatic sentence: What can not be said in words – ought be passed over in silence.
Words, apologies, are necessary but never sufficient. Maybe all we can do is to approach the nativity scene, the Christmas crib, humbly and silently this year – and let it speak to us.
BISHOP JAMES FOLEY
of Cairns
