Weekend Edition -- March 20-21

German reform Catholics said Sunday the pope's pastoral letter, written to Irish Catholics in response to sexual abuse by the clergy, is merely a starting point in a long process of change, and called for the church to overhaul its stance on celibacy.

In his most comprehensive statement yet on the sexual abuse crisis, Pope Benedict XVI has apologized to victims, called on abuser priests to tell the truth, and charged bishops to cooperate with civil authorities. The pope also announced plans for a Vatican-sponsored investigation of Irish dioceses, seminaries and religious orders, in response to the massive national scandal that has gripped that once ultra-Catholic nation.

After Archbishop Robert Zollitsch's recent papal audience, he spoke of Pope Benedict's "great shock" and "profound agitation" over the many cases of abuse which are coming to light. Zollitsch asked pardon of the victims and spoke again about the measures that have already been taken or will soon be taken. But neither he nor the pope have addressed the real question that can no longer be put aside.

Congress, and its Catholics, should say yes to health care reform. We do not reach this conclusion as easily as one might think. There are, to be sure, grave problems with the bill the House will consider in the next few days. Nonetheless, the choice Congress faces is between the status quo and change -- and the current bill is a profoundly preferable step in the direction of positive change.

Commentary As disclosures of carefully concealed clergy sex crimes surface by the hundreds across Europe, even in Pope Benedict's native Germany, defenders of the pontiff are working overtime. Well, let's look clearly at Benedict's track record, as pope, on clergy sex crimes and cover ups. He has done three things.

My life has been largely spent at home, caring for my family. It is a small world, but a rich and complex one, for all its short distances from stove to bed and bathtub to couch. Perhaps that is why I am drawn to these writers -- they are women -- who observe the contours and appreciate the significance of the daily and the domestic.

The beleaguered diocese of Scranton, Pa., has a new bishop, a native son who wasted no time in his first news conference in setting a tone distinctly different from that of his predecessor. Msgr. Joseph Bambera has been handling the day-to-day running of the diocese since the abrupt and early retirement of Bishop Joseph F. Martino in August.

Mother Mary Clare Millea last month sent out the first wave of letters to U.S. women religious communities being visited this spring as part of a three-year Vatican study, officially called an Apostolic Visitation.

Boulder, Colo. -- Fr. William Breslin, pastor of Sacred Heart of Jesus Parish here, seemed like a tired warrior for the Catholic faith as he sat on a chair out front of the church greeting parishioners as they left the five o’clock Saturday Mass.

The proposition that liberal Catholicism is dying has been offered from time to time, for decades now, often in a way that reminds one of the schoolyard scuffler more interested in the fight than in any point being made.

Mission Management Sick patients want to be treated by the best-trained doctors and nurses available. But is that enough or do patients need pastoral care as an integral part of holistic health care? While most hospitals offer spiritual care to their patients, do patients really need professionally trained and board-certified Catholic chaplains? One organization thinks so.