WASHINGTON -- Many Catholics are calling for more reforms as the church deals with another massive sex abuse scandal in America.
Last week, a grand jury report in Pennsylvania revealed that church leaders protected more than 300 priests who stood accused of abusing more than 1,000 young victims.
The topic has received in-depth coverage across the country, including Washington, D.C.
On Thursday, Atlanta-based historian William S. Cossen wrote a column in the Washington Post that claimed to know the real reason why the church continues to deal with sex abuse scandals.
In the column, Cossen argues that there is not a substantial check against a church hierarchy, that in many dioceses, has ignored or facilitated abuse in its midst. He goes on to write that laypeople should have more power in the church to make sure priests are being regulated by the people they are supposed to serve.
A layperson is a nonordained member of a church.
Mark Morozowich is the Dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at the Catholic University of America.
He said there needs to be a review process for everyone in the church and that lay people should continue to remain a part of such procedure.
"One of the things that we have seen happen with the sex abuse scandal is that the control of power, in only the hands of few, has led to some bad decision making,” he said.
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Morozowich added that ordained members of the church and laypeople can work together on the issue.
"It's up to the church to look at, together with lay people, and see how indeed, we can create systems that really work to protect the good of the church,” he said.
In 2002, the church did put into place review panels on the Diocesan level to ensure more reviews would be performed at the local level. Laypeople sit on those panels.
But, laypeople may not be the only answer to the church’s problems.
Morozowich points out more transparency is needed throughout the entirety of the Catholic Church.
"I believe that transparency is the key to all of this,” he said. “The key to even financial improprieties. Whenever you have one or two people doing something that's hidden, that's where we really run into problems."
Cardinal Donald Wuerl, the archbishop of Washington, D.C., has come under fire for how he handled sex abuse cases when he served as bishop of Pittsburgh from 1988-2006. Wuerl was identified in the report as a church leader who failed to stop abusers.
In the wake of the report, Cardinal Wuerl has since claimed that he did not know about the allegations made in the past.
WUSA9 asked Morozowich how the church should proceed with Wuerl.
"Everybody deserves to have their records be shown and when anyone is guilty of things, these aren't just matters,” he said. “And, it doesn't matter who you are, we're all members of not only the church, but also the society and we're all called to respect the law of society."
