Dear Editor: Apparently, many lay Catholics and bishops felt slighted by Rome’s intervention which stopped United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ (USSCB) vote on local remedies to sex scandals in their scheduled meeting of November 2018. (“Vatican Asks US Bishops for Delay in Responding to Sex Abuse Crisis,” The Tablet, Nov. 17).

We are aware of several scandals which plague the Church today. These include notably, worldwide sex abuse scandal, financial indiscipline which prompted Pope Francis to appoint four top clerics to fix the Vatican Financial operations, and clericalism whereby some clerics saw themselves as untouchables, institutionalized and accountable to no one.

The Church is one body universal and these crises require holistic approach by the representatives of our universal Church clergy and selected lay faithful to prayerfully reach broad guidelines for dealing with all these scandals.

Each crisis has roots in various countries or regions and their undesirable consequences trickle down to parishes and dioceses. They are not peculiar to our U.S. Church alone. The USSCB has zeal and good intentions but failed to realize that this is no time to act solo on grave issues as these. They cannot play the roles of the accused, the adjudicator and the enforcer of penalties.

The USSCB should articulate their views and join the Church universal to produce a Holy Spirit inspired policy to stamp out these scandals permanently. Let prayer and repentance be our master key to God’s heart; He has promised never to abandon  nor forsake us (Hebrews, 13:5).

VICTOR C. ENEMUO

Elmont