A New Kind of Catholic Emerges Out of the Church’s Tainted Shadow Following Pennsylvania Sex Abuse Report

PHILADELPHIA (PA)
NBC Philadelphia

August 20, 2018

By Alicia Victoria Lozano

For many Roman Catholics, separating their religious faith from the governing organization has been a daily practice long before a Pennsylvania grand jury documented decades of sexual abuse by hundreds of clergy members

A new generation of Catholics is stepping outside the church’s tainted shadow and creating a modern community that, they say, better reflects the world today.

This new generation of believers worship outside the confines of an antiquated and draconian institution that is out to protect itself, they say. This has been a daily practice for many long before a Pennsylvania grand jury report exposed decades of sexual abuse by hundreds of clergy members throughout the state.

“We’ve always had an antagonistic or non-relationship with the bishops,” Michael Rocks, president of Dignity Philadelphia, said. “We don’t trust them to police themselves.”

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