MASSACHUSETTS
The Salem News

BY TOM DALTON STAFF WRITER

A decade ago, as the priest sex abuse scandal rocked the Archdiocese of Boston, media reports appeared about a small group of lay Catholics meeting in the basement of a Wellesley church to share the hurt and anger they felt over the church leadership’s handling of the crisis.

Miles away in Topsfield, Vince and Jolene Guerra heard the news and knew they had to do something.

So they jumped in their car and made the nearly hour-long drive to St. John the Evangelist Church in Wellesley, where they were moved by gut-wrenching accounts of abuse and by the heartfelt, thought-provoking dialogue with other Catholics. It was a trip they made many times.

It was also a heady time. Media flocked to the meetings. Boston newspapers and TV were there. The national press came.

Inspired by what they heard in Wellesley,…