Catholic faithful should demonstrate their anger, nonviolently

Richard K. Taylor

is the author of Love in Action: A Direct Action Handbook for Catholics Using Gospel Nonviolence to Reform and Renew the Church (www. gospelnonviolence.com)

No matter how furious we Catholics get at priests who prey on children and the church officials who cover up for them, we feel helpless to influence them. We write letters and articles. We hold meetings. We seek dialogue. We work with the press. But nothing penetrates the hierarchical brick wall.

Movements for change most often begin in the outrage of people who feel oppressed or ignored.

In Egypt, hundreds of thousands of "furious" citizens brought down the Hosni Mubarak dictatorship through mass protests, the majority of which were peaceful and nonviolent.

Of course, we're not Egypt. But the Archdiocese of Philadelphia has a Catholic population of 1.48 million. What if just 1 percent of us trained in nonviolence and expressed our outrage through nonviolent demonstrations similar to those in Egypt? Imagine 14,800 Catholics demonstrating peacefully and prayerfully, day in and day out, in front of the Cathedral of SS. Peter and Paul. Imagine 14,800 voices demanding, lovingly but strongly, the resignations of church officials who keep putting the needs of the institution ahead of the welfare of children.

Our voices could no more be ignored than Mubarak could ignore the thousands of Egyptians who gathered in Cairo's main square.

If we chose nonviolent action, we would not have to limit ourselves to large-scale demonstrations. Students of the subject identify nearly 200 methods of nonviolent action, including mock awards, vigils, long marches, pilgrimages, motorcades, teach-ins, sit-ins, stand-ins, pray-ins, call-ins, boycotts, stay-at-homes, strikes, fasts, nonviolent interjection, and occupation.

To have maximum positive effect, participants in faith-based nonviolent actions must be disciplined, spiritually centered, and well-trained. Luckily, here in Philadelphia we have many people with experience in nonviolent action and training, including West Philadelphia's "Training for Change," which has been honing people's skills in nonviolent action for more than 30 years.

Nonviolent campaign-building is not foreign to Catholics. People such as Dorothy Day and Fathers Dan Berrigan and John Dear have been in the forefront of nonviolent movements for peace, justice, and environmental sanity. Pope John Paul II, who supported the great nonviolent upheavals that defeated communism in Eastern Europe, praised "the nonviolent commitment of people ... [who learned] to fight for justice without violence."

The beauty of nonviolent protest is that it channels our anger into strong, loving actions that change public consciousness into a force that transforms even dictatorships.

The Catholic Church isn't an Egyptian dictatorship, but its authority structure has many similar features. It is autocratic and totally top-down. It fears and crushes dissent. It disdains democracy, at least in its own structures. It is not accountable to its members, nor does it consult meaningfully with them.

When Catholics try to offer helpful ideas, we are rebuffed or ignored. More often than not, our leaders treat us like children who are to be seen but not heard, rather than thoughtful adults with talents, intelligence, and experience that the church desperately needs. Our protestations about priestly sex abuse and leaders' cover-ups fall on deaf ears.

Won't our beloved church continue to be held up to scorn for its actions until this medieval structure changes?