UNITED STATES
Huffington Post

Cathy Cash Spellman

I was raised an Irish Catholic. Six a.m. Mass most mornings, Novenas every Tuesday, First Fridays every month and as many rosaries as could be squeezed in between. I was taught by the long-suffering nuns and was usually the debater they sent to Archdiocesan Religion Contests to compete on matters of faith.

Then I grew up. I studied other peoples’ theologies and evolved my own connection to God. I’ve written about Him/Her from a Tibetan, Catholic, Mystic, Native American, Hindu, Jain and Kabbalist point of view in my books. I’ve penned a book of Uncommon Prayer.

So much for my bona fides.

I’m now an outsider who was once an insider, but I’m troubled enough by the ongoing and seemingly endless litany of scandals and coverups within the Church, to want to raise a few issues:

It’s now well documented that the…