Dear Brothers and Sisters in Christ, 

As I look upon the Church and the world in our day, I find myself returning to a troubling image. It is an image that has remained in my prayer and contemplation, and one that I believe describes much of what we are witnessing around us. 

WE ARE BLEEDING OUT. 

Not blood. Not wealth. Not influence. 

We are bleeding something far more precious. 

WE ARE BLEEDING TRUTH. 

Truth itself, however, is not dying. Truth cannot die, for truth is not merely an idea or a philosophy. Truth has a name. Our Lord Jesus Christ declared, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life …” (John 14:6).  

Yet while truth remains eternal and unchanging, many have lost their willingness to suffer for it, defend it, and live according to it. In every corner of society, we see the temptation to exchange truth for comfort. 

WE ARE BLEEDING REVERENCE. 

The sacred is often now treated as ordinary. Silence has been replaced by noise. Mystery has been replaced by entertainment. Many have lost the awareness that they stand before the living God whose majesty causes angels to veil their faces. 

WE ARE BLEEDING INNOCENCE. 

Perhaps nowhere is the wound more visible than in the exploitation of children and the corruption of the vulnerable.  

For years, the world has been confronted with revelations of trafficking, abuse, exploitation, and powerful individuals who have used their influence to prey upon those entrusted to their care. The scandals associated with Jeffrey Epstein and his network shocked many people, yet they revealed something far deeper. 

They exposed a culture willing to tolerate darkness so long as it remained hidden. They exposed systems that protect the powerful while failing the innocent. They exposed a society that speaks often of rights but rarely of virtue. 

The loss of innocence is not measured only by criminal acts. It is seen whenever children are robbed of their childhood, whenever purity is mocked, whenever human beings are treated as objects rather than persons made in the image and likeness of God. 

The wounds inflicted upon the innocent cry out to heaven for justice. And yet justice is not found for the perpetrators are often numbered in the ranks of those whose job it is to stop the bleeding. 

And these wounds are not confined to governments, corporations, or entertainment industries. The Church herself has suffered the shame and devastation of abuse scandals that have betrayed truth, wounded souls, and damaged the witness of the Gospel. 

Where innocence is wounded, Christ Himself is wounded. 

Where the vulnerable are exploited, Christ Himself is betrayed. 

A civilization can survive many hardships, but it cannot long endure if it ceases to protect its children and defend the dignity of the innocent. This is one of the clearest signs that we are suffering a spiritual hemorrhage. 

And the question we must ask is this: How did the wound become so deep? 

The answer lies deeper than politics, deeper than economics, and deeper than any election, ideology, or institution.  

We have wandered from God.  

The bleeding did not begin when lies became common. The bleeding began when men ceased to recognize that truth comes from God.  

The bleeding did not begin when reverence disappeared from our churches and public life. It began when we forgot that we live every moment beneath the gaze of Almighty God. 

The bleeding of innocence did not begin with the exposure of great scandals. It began when a culture ceased to honor purity and instead began to celebrate what previous generations knew to be destructive. 

The terrible revelations surrounding the exploitation of the vulnerable, whether in governments, industries, entertainment, or even within the Church herself, are not the disease. They are symptoms of a deeper disease. They reveal what happens when power is separated from virtue, when pleasure is separated from responsibility, and when human beings cease to see one another as children of God.  

A civilization can survive wars. It can survive economic hardship. It can survive political upheaval. But no civilization can endure for long when it no longer protects its children. No society can remain healthy when innocence becomes something to be exploited rather than defended. And no nation can remain free when it loses the moral foundation upon which freedom rests. 

We see the consequences all around us. 

We are living in a time when many no longer know whom to trust. Public institutions have lost credibility. Leaders seem more concerned with protecting power than pursuing truth. Information surrounds us, yet clarity becomes harder to find. Voices compete for our attention, but wisdom grows scarce. 

People no longer agree on the meaning of marriage, family, human dignity, justice, freedom, or even what it means to be human. What previous generations regarded as self-evident truths are now endlessly debated. What was once considered virtue is often ridiculed, while what was once recognized as destructive is frequently celebrated.  

The wounds extend beyond society and into the household of faith.  

Many Catholics look upon the Church with sorrow and confusion. They see division where there should be unity. They hear uncertainty where they long for clarity. They witness scandals that have shaken trust and left many wounded. Some wonder why obvious errors are not corrected. Others struggle to understand why ancient traditions are treated as burdens rather than treasures.  

In such times, there is a temptation either to despair or to become consumed by anger. Both temptations are dangerous. Despair forgets that Christ remains Lord of His Church. Anger forgets that the battle is ultimately spiritual. 

We must be honest about the wounds before us. We must not pretend that everything is well when souls are suffering and confusion spreads. Yet neither must we surrender to discouragement.  

For the crisis before us is not merely a crisis of leadership. It is not merely a crisis of culture. It is not merely a crisis of institutions. It is a crisis of vision. 

A people can endure hardship when they know where they are going. A people can survive suffering when they know why they suffer. But when a people lose sight of God, they lose sight of themselves. And that is the deeper wound beneath all the others.  

WE ARE BLEEDING THE SUPERNATURAL VISION. 

We have forgotten eternity.  

We have become consumed with the immediate and have neglected the eternal. We have become experts in managing earthly affairs while forgetting the destiny of the soul. 

We speak constantly about government, markets, elections, technology, entertainment, and success, yet speak little about judgment, holiness, sacrifice, repentance, and salvation.  

We live as though this world were our permanent home. We live as though death were the greatest tragedy. 

But it is not. 

The greatest tragedy is to lose sight of God while believing we can still flourish without Him. This loss of supernatural vision affects every part of society.  

Governments become preoccupied with power because they no longer recognize a law above themselves. Institutions become consumed with self-preservation because they no longer remember the purpose for which they exist. Families become fragile because they no longer understand their sacred mission. 

And even within the Church, the focus seems to be earthly concerns and celebrating mankind while our first duty has been forgotten: to lead souls to Jesus Christ and to eternal life.  

My brothers and sisters, I write this letter not merely to explain the gaping wound and to lament the fact that we are bleeding out! I write it to awaken us!  

For while we are bleeding, we are not abandoned. While the wound is serious, it is not beyond healing. For there is another Heart that still bleeds. 

The Sacred Heart of Jesus, pierced upon Calvary, still pours forth Blood and Mercy upon a wounded world. The Heart that was rejected still loves. The Heart that was mocked still forgives. The Heart that was pierced still heals.  

And perhaps the greatest tragedy of our age is not that the world is wounded. Perhaps the greatest tragedy is that so many wounded souls no longer know where to seek healing. 

They search for it in politics. They search for it in wealth. They search for it in pleasure. They search for it in ideology. Yet the remedy has remained the same for two thousand years. 

THE REMEDY IS JESUS CHRIST. 

The remedy is repentance. The remedy is grace. The remedy is the Cross. The remedy is the Sacred Heart that continues to burn with love for every sinner and every saint.  

My dear friends, I believe we stand at a moment of decision. Will we continue drifting further from the source of life? Or will we return? Will we return to prayer? Will we return to the Sacraments? Will we return to reverence? Will we return to truth? 

Will we return to the Sacred Heart before we bleed away what remains of our faith, our courage, our innocence, and our love?  

I believe there is still reason for hope. Not because of governments. Not because of institutions. Not because of worldly power. But because Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever. 

The Heart that conquered death still reigns. The Blood that redeemed the world has not lost its power. The mercy that raised saints from sin still flows. 

And if we return to Him with humble and repentant hearts, the Great Physician can still heal what we have wounded, restore what we have lost, and renew what seems beyond saving. 

May the Sacred Heart of Jesus have mercy on us. May He stop the bleeding. May He restore in us the supernatural vision. And may He teach us once again to live, not merely for this world, but for the Kingdom that has no end. 

May Almighty God bless you, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen. 

Bishop Joseph E. Strickland 
Bishop Emeritus