JEFFERSON CITY (MO)
Catholic News Service
November 19, 2018
Laypeople need to help the U.S. bishops get out from under the clerical sex abuse scandal that is plaguing the Church, said Bishop W. Shawn McKnight of Jefferson City in a message to Catholics of his diocese posted Nov. 16 on the diocesan website.
Beyond just the abuse crisis, laity need to be involved “at all levels of the church,” McKnight said.
“Why can’t we have well-qualified, nationally known and trusted lay experts named to the special task force announced by the president of the USCCB (U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops)?” he asked. “The Second Vatican Council gave us not only the freedom but the obligation to utilize and engage the gifts and talents of the laity in the life and mission of the Church.”
After the substantiated abuse allegation that prompted retired Archbishop Theodore E. McCarrick’s resignation in July from the College of Cardinals, “an internal investigation of the McCarrick scandal without the use of competent and qualified lay investigators will hardly be considered transparent and credible,” McKnight said.
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