LAFAYETTE (LA)
KATC YV
January 21, 2019
By Jim Hummel
Transparency and openness in the Diocese of Lafayette is being questioned by a group of devout Catholics who have formed an anonymous group called The Society of St. Peter Damian (SSPD). Now, one of their members is coming forward.
“St. Peter Damian, our patron, was very outspoken, he was a priest and very outspoken,” said Quinn Hebert, a member of the SSPD. “We don’t see that among clergy, because it is really not our place to be doing this, and yet we’ve been forced to, because those whose place it is refuse to act.”
Hebert is a former seminarian in the diocese, who says he and others were compelled to do something because of the church’s response to the clergy sex abuse crisis locally and worldwide.
“It’s for the good of the church,” he said. “We love the church, we absolutely adore the church, we love the hierarchy, we have no intention of usurping the authority of the bishop, that’s not our goal. We want to assist the bishop, encourage him to do the right thing.”
In their posts on social media, the SSPD has called into question the effectiveness of the church’s Safe Environment Program and called for transparency in the clergy sex abuse crisis.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.