Religion and Politics

Why They Stay. Why They Can’t: New York Catholics Wrestle With Their Faith Over Abuse Allegations

For The New York Times, Luis Ferré-Sadurní and Mariana Alfaro profile ten Catholic New Yorkers’ reactions to the Catholic sex abuse crisis. Ferré-Sadurní and Alfaro write of Thomas McGarvey, who says he was sexually assaulted when he was 16 by a priest in his local church, “Though he remains skeptical of clergymen and the Vatican hierarchy, Mr. McGarvey said he has never allowed the abuse to damage his faith in God. To do so, he said, would let evil win.” Jacques David, a 50-year-old from Kentucky who was raised evangelical, said the sex abuse crisis reveals deep-seated problems with the church hierarchy. “Christ lives and dwells in us. And so I think, as lay people, we have a sense of what is right and what is wrong. I think it’s time for us to stand up and say, ‘This is unacceptable,’” he said.

Read at The New York Times

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