Inspired by their Vatican II forebearers, many young Catholics are planning to stay in the church and fight for reform of the power structures that allowed clergy sexual abuse to happen and that protected church leaders who tried to cover it up.

On the show today:

• Brian Harper, NCR Young Voices columnist and graduate student in Fordham University's International Political Economy and Development program. He currently interns with the Americas Society and Council of the Americas.
• Julie Bourbon, NCR contributor, based in Washington, D.C.
• Annie Selak, Catholic lay minister and PhD candidate in Systematic Theology at Boston College

Background reading:

• Brian Harper writes: Clergy and laity alike can learn from those who have been most marginalized. They know Golgotha in a way no one ever should, and their courage is without parallel.
• Julie Bourbon reported on the Georgetown panel "Crisis of Faith? Scandal, Pope Francis, the Synod, and Young People." Panelists addressed the aftermath of the latest revelations in the ongoing sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church — and ways young Catholics can support each other.
• With surveys that show increasing numbers of young people leaving the church, it would seem these recent revelations would be prompting an even greater exodus. But, as Heidi Schlumpf reports, young Catholics who spoke to NCR are not giving up.

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