That morale is down for priests across the country is not exactly stop-the-presses material. But I wonder if it isn’t the canary in the coal mine of the Catholic Church today.

The Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki, the bishop of Springfield in Illinois, and the Most Rev. Kevin W. Vann, the bishop of Orange in California, write in response to America’s interview with Senator Durbin.

The pope sent a letter of thanks to Michael O'Loughlin, America's national correspondent, this summer after receiving an advance copy of “Hidden Mercy: AIDS, Catholics, and the Untold Stories of Compassion in the Face of Fear.”

Pope Francis: The Gospel helps us to interpret “today’s pain and tomorrow’s hope” and calls on us to be ”witnesses of compassion amid widespread disinterest.”

They were intent on responding with mercy to a crisis that at the time showed no signs of slowing.

“This could have a profound change in the life of the church.”