Catholic Church is alive and growing

It seems the conclave to elect the new pope has brought out yet another wave of insults and attacks on the Catholic Church.

I want to offer a few facts. The Catholic Church is alive and growing. This Easter, 250,000 people will become new members of the church in the U.S. The number of men entering the seminary is the highest it has been in almost 25 years. Seminaries are expanding.

In regard to the abuse issues, I have become a new grandfather again this week. It sickens me that any child would be taken advantage of by an adult. Yet a child is at no more risk in the Catholic Church than in any other faith. A child is at more risk in a school setting and is at twice the risk among the public. These are factual statistics. Only greed by attorneys for large lawsuits and the disdain of the press for the truth of the Catholic Church make this issue seem much larger in the Catholic Church.

With sadness, I say farewell to a holy man, Pope Benedict.

STEVE SCHMIDT

Turlock