By Dick Ryan
Newsday (New York)
September 14, 2004

Bishop William Murphy has broken off all talks about a mutual agreement with the Long Island Voice of the Faithful until they begin to play nice, curb the dogs calling for his resignation and get back to filling up the collection basket.

So it comes down to the stark reality that the Catholic Church is still knee-deep in an abuse of authority and trust. And it may be up to the Voice of the Faithful, with the help of many priests and nuns, to step forward and restore some sense of healing, hope and trust to the church. And here are a few things they might consider.

The largest chapter of Voice of the Faithful in the country is on Long Island, so it could sponsor a national Congress of Catholic Laity at the Nassau Coliseum that would explore the concerns and solutions to the current crisis in the church from Catholics and Catholic organizations from all across America.

If the idea sounds like the beginning of an organized union in the best sense of that word, then so be it. Despite all the papal encyclicals about a just wage and the rights of the working person, unions frighten the bejabbers out of many in the church hierarchy, and they are anathema in most Catholic institutions where teachers, nurses and social workers receive skeleton wages and benefits with the pious reminder that they're working for God.

Until some of the bishops begin opening their doors and hearts to all Catholics, the Voice of the Faithful and even the Voice of the Ordained should ignore them until they get their act together. Let the bishops continue to pontificate among themselves and pose nicely for the cameras at Confirmation. Until they begin to initiate some real reform in the church and publicly denounce those in their fraternity who gave permission to some of their priests to molest innocent children, we should operate as if they don't exist.

The local parish, with its small community of priests and people, is still the heart of Catholic life, where the faithful can find all the instruction, truth and sustenance they need.

In the meantime, Long Island Catholics should swamp the office of the pope's apostolic delegate in Washington and the Vatican also with lists of worthy candidates to succeed Bishop Murphy as the next bishop of Rockville Centre when he decides shortly to retire. The candidates would not be from Boston or Baton Rouge or any other hemisphere outside of Long Island but instead would be homegrown, holy, intelligent priests who know the territory, talk the language and, as a paramount credential, know how to listen. The selection of bishops by the people was an old and hallowed tradition in the church that, somewhere along the line, was dropped for all the wrong reasons.

Again, until that day when all Catholics are welcome under the same church roof, congregants should continue to throw nothing but a handful of air into the bishop's annual appeal. Without any other leverage in the Catholic Church, holding back donations is the only way to get the attention of a hierarchy that believes devoutly in that ancient Vatican dogma: Money matters.

Those who want reform must campaign for more accountability and transparency in fiscal matters from the diocese and for a far more significant role for the laity, and especially women, as prescribed by several popes. They must question the credentials and integrity of diocesan lawyers who shamelessly try to suggest that innocent young victims are "partially responsible" for their own cases of sexual abuse. Caring Catholics must insist on the formation of pastoral councils in every parish that would be elected by the parishioners and not appointed by the pastor. And they must become a vocal presence at the bishops' national meetings where the experiences, reflections and needs of the laity cannot be found in a prayer book.

All Catholics have to be convinced that the church is not some aloof mausoleum of statues and scapulars and old men in red dresses canonizing each other. It is essentially the people themselves, the housewives and bartenders and accountants who have always been the real voices of the faithful. They must stand up and grace that church with the sound of their voices once again.

Dick Ryan of West Islip is the author of "Holy Human: Stories of Extraordinary Catholics"