Parishioners must speak out to counter the crisis in the Catholic Church

OPINION:

I received an email message from a parishioner who was extremely troubled about this latest chapter in the ongoing and seemingly endless sex abuse scandal.

“Father,” he wrote, “I am 77 years old, and disheartened by what is happening to my religion. Yes, my religion. I am an equal member with the pope and the entire hierarchy.”

He went on to vent his frustration at how “over the centuries [the bishops] have given to themselves unaccountable power,” and he insisted “that they are not more entitled to the Catholic Faith than I am.”

The message ended with this wrenching plea: “Give me a voice, for I have no voice in my religion.”

Such expressions of anguish are becoming more and more frequent among the Catholic faithful. And they are entirely understandable.

After the lurid revelations about Cardinal Theodore McCarrick; after the Pennsylvania investigations; after reports of similar abuses in Europe and South America that reveal clerical sexual predation to be a worldwide crisis — the first reaction from Pope Francis was that he didn’t want to talk about it.

This was followed by a papal homily in which the Holy Father appeared to deflect blame from the bishops for letting such crimes go unchecked:

“In these times,” he said, “it seems like the ’Great Accuser’ [Satan] has been unchained and is attacking bishops. True, we are all sinners, we bishops. He [Satan] tries to uncover the sins, so they are visible in order to scandalize the people.”

I’ve no doubt the devil is having a field day in our holy church. And I’m not accusing Pope Francis of being intentionally evasive. But I do think his approach to this situation suggests that he doesn’t appreciate the depth of anger and betrayal which Catholics feel. He doesn’t fully grasp the hurt caused by these wayward shepherds whom the faithful had always trusted to uphold the church’s moral teaching and preserve the ideals of a virtuous life.

This view is given added substance by the accusation from a former U.S. papal nuncio that Francis knew all about Cardinal McCarrick’s perverse sex life, yet lifted sanctions which had been imposed earlier by Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI.

Now we hear that the Council of Cardinals has decided “to convene a meeting with the Presidents of the Bishops Conferences of the Catholic Church on the theme of ’protection of minors.’” It’s set to occur at the end of February.

If you’ll excuse a flash of skepticism, this sounds an awful lot like asking the guys who caused the problem to try and fix the problem. Also, while acknowledging that such international powwows require time to organize, I sense that this crisis is unfolding much too swiftly for the Church to take effective action at a conference that won’t be held for five months.

The laity have already seized the initiative in this matter, and they’re on the move. Protest groups and letter-writing campaigns are being organized. Petitions are in circulation. Websites are being set up. A drive to withhold contributions to dioceses and diocesan agencies is gathering participants and gaining momentum.

And these are not fringe efforts. Even so prominent a group as Legatus, the Catholic business leaders fraternal organization, has announced that its annual gift to the pope is being withheld and put into escrow.

People like my disheartened email correspondent can rest assured that they do have a voice in the church. And much as they’ve been ignored in the past — back in the bad old days of “pray, pay and obey” — the combined volume is forcing bishops to listen.

I applaud all of this. It’s high time. In fact, it’s overdue.

The mere fact that you are baptized makes you a member of the Body of Christ — with the power and the duty to express yourself on how that Body is being nurtured by those with responsibility over its health.

Go online and seek out these lay movements. Get involved.

Involve yourself on the local level as well. Go to meetings of your parish council.

If you live in a diocese that has a diocesan pastoral council (unfortunately, not all do; it’s up to the discretion of the bishop), find out when that body gets together, show up, and open your mouth about things that are important to you — especially as regards the present crisis.

Even though these councils are advisory in nature, they provide opportunities to communicate directly with priests and bishops. And when people attend in groups, the voice of the laity becomes amplified.

You must speak out now, before there are even more problems. You cannot remain mute. And you cannot depend on the hierarchy to correct all of these wrongs. There are too many entrenched interests, too many cozy connections and political obligations at high levels.

Remember, it’s your church — established by Christ for the sake of your soul.

You are being called by God to act.

• A priest of the Diocese of Camden, New Jersey, the Rev. Michael P. Orsi currently serves as parochial vicar at St. Agnes Parish in Naples, Florida. He is host of “Action for Life TV.”