The 'fire' of crisis can purify, Vatican ambassador tells embattled U.S. bishops By Joe Feuerherd ST. LOUIS, Mo. The U.S. hierarchy should not "sit idle or … retreat to a place of isolation" as they address the sexual abuse crisis that has been used to discredit the church, Pope John Paul II's representative told the U.S. bishops June 19. "We all know that we are going through difficult times and that some real problems within the church have been magnified to discredit the moral authority of the church," Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Gabriel Montalvo said in an address that kicked-off the...