JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Jefferson City Press Tribune
November 20, 2018
By Joe Gamm
Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of the Diocese of Jefferson City — one of the youngest and newest of those attending the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops — was among the first and loudest to respond when the Vatican asked the conference to delay action on the sexual abuse crisis facing the church.
Many were surprised. Maybe none more so than McKnight.
“I made the promise to myself that I would not speak at my first major general assembly out of deference. You’re the new guy, and you need to learn how this crisis works,” McKnight said Monday. “But, when this crisis blew up and the November assembly was focused primarily on addressing it. The way this was happening, I could not keep silent, no matter how young I am.”
The U.S. bishops meet annually to promote the greater good the church can do for humankind, according to the conference website, and fits programs to circumstances as required. The agenda going into this year’s conference in Baltimore was to create a strategy to deal with the growing clergy sexual abuse crisis across the country.
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