Hmm …

… A deathbed prayer for the Catholic Church | Opinion.

 On its deathbed, the church has nothing to lose  …  [a]s the church implodes before our eyes … [t]he church that has played such a huge part in lives is dying, and we are helpless … the church will be remembered as a nonprofit hijacked in the name of God  ….

First, I think there is great merit in Judge Rice's initial proposal regarding trained mediators and lay professionals. But the rest of this screed is way off base theologically. The judge may be a practicing Catholic, but his grasp of Church doctrine is seriously wanting. If he believes what he writes, he does not believe, as Catholics are taught, that the Church is divinely instituted, that its founder, Jesus, remains its head, and that the Pope is but his vicar, a stand-in. Anyone familiar with Church history knows that the Papal throne has often been occupied by quite dubious figures. I am not alone in thinking that its current bien-pensant occupant — who paused in his concern over the sex scandal to warn us about plastic straws — may be one of them. Judge Rice obviously thinks otherwise. He apparently is unaware that a good many laypersons are already at work on this problem and have been for quite some time. The Rosary Confraternity is about 500 years old and is still praying away. He mentions prayer at the end, but he seems to view the Church as a purely human institution in need of God's help. That is not Catholic doctrine. He should read this: The McCarrick Mess.