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  Priest's Call Stirs Wide Reaction

By Jack Flynn
The Republican
April 14, 2010

http://www.masslive.com/chicopeeholyoke/republican/index.ssf?/base/news-26/1271229544245540.xml&coll=1

By calling for Pope Benedict XVI to step down last weekend, the Rev. James J. Scahill stepped into an international spotlight.

In the past 48 hours, the pastor of St. Michael's parish has been deluged by e-mails, telephone calls and interview requests from local media outlets, "Good Morning, America," the BBC and others.

But one parishioner will have no trouble getting the pastor's ear: the man who stood up and called him a heretic for criticizing the pope.

"I told him I want to sit down and talk," said Scahill, who appeared on CNN Tuesday afternoon. "I want to explain my position to him, and hear his side."

Scahill is hardly a stranger to controversy. Since 2002, the Hungry Hill native has been one of the nation's most outspoken priests, demanding that his bosses in the church hierarchy be held accountable for failing to confront the child sex abuse crisis.

But nothing in his 36 years of ministry prepared him for the media crush that followed his suggestion that the pope - reeling from criticism over his handling of clergy abuse cases while a Vatican official - take greater responsibility for solving the church's abuse problems or resign. Scahill spoke during four sermons delivered during the weekend.

"We've had over 400 phone calls, running about 95 percent in favor," Scahill said. "I've heard from people across the country - including a couple who said, 'How can you take on the pope'?"

The best indication of the parish's reaction might be the two standing ovations that Scahill received during his sermons at two Sunday Masses. One dissenting voice has been Rev. Timothy McDonnell, bishop of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Springfield, who faulted the timing of Scahill's sermons on Divine Mercy Sunday, a weekend dedicated to forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation.

In response, Scahill noted that no priest has shown more compassion for the victims of clergy sexual abuse than he has, and said divine mercy could only come after contrition.

"And that is only going to happen when the church admits to being part of a systemic cover-up" of the abuse cases, Scahill said.

Contact: jflynn@repub.com

 
 

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