When my wife and I called her parents last night, to wish them a Happy Easter, they asked if we’d heard about something extraordinary that the Archbishop of Washington had done during Holy Week. It was news to me. And it really is extraordinary. I’m not aware of another bishop doing anything like this, ever:

Archbishop Donald Wuerl took the unusual step of praying with protesters calling attention to the sex abuse scandal.

Wuerl has not been shy about discussing sex abuse in the Catholic Church. He has mentioned it several times since taking over the Archdiocese of Washington four years ago.

Just before leading Good Friday services at the Cathedral of St. Matthews on Friday, the Archbishop walked across the street where he joined a number of protesters in the stations of the cross.

The people protesting sex abuse in the Catholic Church were about halfway through the stations of the cross when Archbishop Wuerl crossed the street to join them.

Arriving just in time to hear the story of David Lorenz.

“It took me until I was 33 years old before I could tell anyone. I wanted to. I didn’t know how. How do I tell you that I was abused?” said Lorenz.

Through the 14 stations or the last hours of Jesus before his crucifixion, the protest followed a theme. Asking for justice, praying for victims too ashamed to come forward.

As the stations came to a close, Archbishop Wuerl sought out David Lorenz, telling him that “I came just to show some solidarity.”

You can see the news report on this below.