Paul Lakeland on How the Clergy Sex Abuse Scandal Reveals a Crisis of Leadership

MINNESOTA
The Wild Reed

Paul Lakeland, author and director of Fairfield University’s Center for Catholic Studies, will be visiting Minnesota at the end of the month to speak on “Pope Francis and the Liberation of the Laity.”

I first met Paul at the Catholic Coalition for Church Reform’s 2010 Synod of the Baptized, “Claiming Our Place at the Table.” I was an organizer of this event while Paul was its keynote speaker. His talk at Synod 2010 was entitled “The Call of the Baptized: Be the Church, Live the Mission.” It was an excellent presentation, the transcript of which can be found here.

Now Paul is returning to Minnesota where he will be speaking on what Pope Francis has to say about the role of the laity in the world and the responsibilities the baptismal priesthood places on each of us who are baptized in Christ’s name. On Wednesday,…