PENNSYLVANIA
Main Line Media News
By Gary Puleo
gpuleo@timesherald.com
@MustangMan48 on Twitter
BRIDGEPORT >> The Rev. Ronald Popivchak recently took Pope Francis up on his invitation last fall for clergy and laymen to submit their ideas on ways the Catholic Church can upgrade its profile.
And so the pastor of Ss. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Catholic Church in Bridgeport appointed himself administrator, overseer, leader – a metaphorical bishop for a day, as it were.
In his newly published book, “Bishop for a Day: Ideas to Heal and Renew the Catholic Church,” Popivchak — a gregarious man who is a self-avowed fishing buff and prefers being called Father Ron — covers a lot of ground in a quick and easy read of 91 pages filled with opinions and solutions surrounding such issues as parish closures, abortion, clergy sex abuse scandals, contraception, women in the church and youth.
“About a year and a half ago I decided to sit down and gather up all the facts I could and my ideas to try to help the church and the bishops and present them,” Popivchak noted. “I saw five or six priests in our town and neighboring towns charged with sex abuse and the church couldn’t get a handle on it. It bothered me, and also seeing the diocese going bankrupt. None of this is healthy for the church.”
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