10 Things You Can Do in Response to the Clergy Abuse Scandal
1) Pray for our church.
2) Pray for the victims of the abuse
3) Pray for priests. All of them. Seriously.
4) Do something to help in your church community. People are leaving, but the ones being hurt the most are the ones who have been served by the church. Help them.
5) Be kind to the priests you see. There are many innocent priests and they are as disgusted and hurt by this as we are.
6) Attend Mass. Go for Jesus. Go to receive the strength and grace that comes from the Eucharist and to sit at the foot of the cross.
7) Lay your frustrations and your sorrows at Jesus’ feet and ask for healing and comfort. Then watch for it. Listen for it.
8) Prayerfully write to your bishop, the Cardinals, and the Pope. Encourage them to do the right thing, and challenge them to do the difficult things.
9) If you are overwhelmed, look for the good things that are happening in our church. I can tell you that there are many. Look at the people serving the sick. Look at the people helping the poor. Look at the people teaching our children. Look at the families doing their best to live lives that bring hope to the world. Don’t let this cloud darken the lights that are shining so brightly. Then commit to being one of those lights.
And finally, or maybe this should be first …
10) Ask God what He wants you to do about this. We all have our gifts. We all have our roles. Maybe yours is to help on the legal side. Maybe it is to volunteer at the church. Maybe it is to counsel those who are hurting. Start looking – something will draw you in.
Let us hold unwaveringly to our confession that gives us hope, for he who made the promise is trustworthy. We must consider how to rouse one another to love and good works. We should not stay away from our assembly, as is the custom of some, but encourage one another, and this all the more as you see the day drawing near.
(Hebrews 10:23-25)