IN light of the McCarrick Report, detailing the abuse of disgraced ex-Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, Los Angeles auxiliary Bishop Robert Barron appeared on his Word on Fire podcast and praised a name familiar to Australians.
Host Brandon Vogt asked Bishop Barron about how to understand the abuse crisis from a historic lens and how saints had responded to similar crises in the past.
Bishop Barron mentioned the great reformers like St Francis of Assisi and St Ignatius Loyola, and said Australian St Mary MacKillop came to his mind “very powerfully”.
“She (St Mary MacKillop) brought this issue to light and she suffered enormously for it,” he said.
“(She was) facing a Church that was in many ways problematic and dysfunctional, but she brought this issue forward.”
Bishop Barron lamented how many Catholics fell into resentment with the Church over the abuse scandals and other scandals too.
“Look to the saints so you don’t fall into the trap of just becoming resentful towards the Church,” he said.
“From the heart of the Church, raise your voice in prophetic protest but do it out of love for Christ not in opposition to his Church.”
Bishop Barron’s response came as Catholics across the world reacted to the damning report released by the Holy See earlier this month.
