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	Professor to Lead Weekend Workshop on How Laity Can Help Catholicism By Mary Ellen MacIntyre The Chronicle-Herald October 23, 2010 http://thechronicleherald.ca/NovaScotia/1208433.html Some say sexual abuse scandals have rocked the very foundations of what it means to be a Roman Catholic. In Nova Scotia alone, revelations about priests abusing children and a recent multimillion-dollar, out-of-court settlement agreed to by a former bishop, who now faces child pornography charges and a civil case alleging he sexually abused a Newfoundland youth, have all led to widespread disgust and doubt among many parishioners. Add to that the ongoing sale of church properties to fund the settlement and it might be fair to say the foundation appears to be crumbling. Not so, says Paul Lakeland, professor of Catholic studies at Fairfield University in Connecticut, an author and a former Jesuit priest. "Catholicism is at a crossroad and when you come down one road, you have a choice as to which way to go," Lakeland said in an interview Friday. Lakeland is to lead a workshop sponsored by the Diocese of Antigonish in Sydney Mines this weekend. There are over 230 people registered for the conference, which is named after his book called Catholicism at the Crossroads: How the Laity Can Save the Church. Lakeland said the crossroads he refers to is a changing church and not just scandals. "The old structure of the church, with a large number of priests, is just no more because the numbers of those entering the seminaries has declined dramatically," he said. "If we are to remain a living community then we need the laity to enter into a co-responsibility for the prospering of the church." As for the sex abuse scandals, Lakeland said people must remember they were the actions of individuals and not the church. "It’s just been one body blow after another lately but this conference is about hope and the hope is to turn this understandable anger and genuine hurt into constructive energy." Contact: mmacintyre@herald.ca
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