San Diego Catholics plan to hold a peaceful, prayerful protest Friday, Sept. 28, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at the Roman Catholic Diocese pastoral center, 3888 Paducah Drive, to pray for Bishop Robert McElroy and demand reforms.

The protest is being organized in the wake of the resignation of former Washington, D.C. Cardinal Theodore McCarrick for sexual abuse of a minor and the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing multiple cases of sexual abuse of minors, the majority of which were homosexual in nature. According to a letter written in 2016 by the late A.W. Richard Sipe, Sipe informed Bishop McElroy of McCarrick’s sexual activities, including the abuse of seminarians. McElroy has evaded admitting that he knew about the contents of Sipe’s letter.

Furthermore, Bishop McElroy disagrees that homosexuality is the primary factor behind the majority of sexual abuse cases. In recent letters to concerned local Catholics, McElroy has stated, “…I do not share your view that homosexuality is the pivotal foundation for this moment of crisis.” Rather, he believes “clericalism” is. His dismissal of the virtue of chastity is also significant: “Many times, our discussions in the life of the church suggest that chastity has a singularly powerful role in determining our moral character or our relationship with God. It does not.”

The principal purpose of the September 28 protest is to pray for and call upon Bishop McElroy to clearly realize and publicly admit that the nature of these Church scandals is homosexual abuse, not clericalism. The secondary purpose is to demand reforms, including that any under his authority who are guilty of engaging in homosexual behavior or who self-identify as “gay” be immediately barred from any public ministry and dismissed from the clerical state.

From Press Release emailed to CalCatholic.