In some countries, today is traditionally known as "Spy Wednesday". It is a day when we recall how Judas offered to betray Jesus to the Jews. He even agreed for a betrayal price of thirty pieces of silver.

Though there may be nothing particularly intriguing about the betrayal, Judas himself throughout history has been a particularly fascinating figure. With many [mostly novelistic] attempts to explain who he was and how he came to betray Jesus, despite being chosen by Jesus as one of the twelve apostles.

Judas' betrayal serves as a reminder to us that we should not take our loyalty to Jesus for granted. After the fall in Eastern Europe of our great external enemy, Communism, the Church has unfortunately found itself betrayed by an internal enemy - sexual abuse.

And this internal betrayal has caused even more considerable damage to the Church than the hostility of Communism which produced and still produces excellent fidelity and courage on the part of the persecuted Catholics. But the suffering caused by the internal infidelity of some continues to inflict great pain and shame.