Bishop of Buffalo Richard Malone led a Rite of Election Sunday at Saint Joseph's Cathedral, where hundreds of people took the first step in joining the Catholic Church.

"Those of us who are members of the Church can fail, but Jesus does not. Even though this is a difficult time for the Church, locally and even globally, God's grace is still working in people's hearts and attracting them to Christ," said Richard Malone, Catholic bishop of Buffalo.

The event comes on the first Sunday of Lent, a 40-day period that started last week on Ash Wednesday and ends on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter.

"There's a great opportunity here for renewal. A call to repentance. To change of heart. To recognizing our sins and failures. Taking those steps we need to assure we are serious about change," Malone said.

Part of that comes as Malone met last week with leaders from The Movement to Restore Trust, an independent committee of parishioners working to rebuild faith in the Church because of the clergy sexual abuse crisis.

Saturday, the group discussed its report and recommendations it presented to the Bishop.

"So that he understood what was coming. About the erosion of trust, about the people's need to see the Bishop commit to working in an active partnership with the laity in the Church," said John Hurley, Movement to Restore Trust Organizing Committee member.

Malone agrees.

"It's very, very significant. Because of the horrific sins and crimes of some of the church's ministers. But what we have to do now is to strengthen our efforts to keep our environments as safe as possible for children and young people. Also reach out to victims in ways that will truly bring them healing," Malone said.

One way was through the confidential Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program, as Malone says many survivors took advantage of cash awards to avoid public litigation.

Those rejecting the amounts say the program is flawed, and the Church is still operating like a business, now facing the reality of multi-million dollar lawsuits.

"I'll be discussing that this coming week with some of my people, so we're not sure what it means yet, but it is daunting," Malone said.

The program ended months before Governor Andrew Cuomo signed the Child Victims Act into law last month, expanding the window of opportunity for survivors to seek legal action.

While Malone says he supports the law because it includes more than just victims of the Catholic community, critics of the Church say it strips the institution of its power, and makes it more vulnerable.

"I think it's more vulnerable for sure. But we look back at 2000 years and we see moments of crisis, and the Church always manages to look that in the eye, repent, and move forward," Malone said.

While Malone says a second installment of the compensation program is unlikely, because of the new law and pending lawsuits, the Diocese will continue to respond to and help victims who come forward.