NEW YORK, NY December 26, 2002 — The past year has been a stormy and scandalous one for Roman Catholics. It began with a story in the Boston Globe last January about former priest John Geoghan, accused of molesting 130 boys in six different parishes over thirty years. And the year ended with the resignation of Boston's Cardinal, Bernard Law. In the intervening months, the child sexual abuse scandal rippled out, affecting dioceses across the country, including those in New York City. WNYC's Amy Eddings asked local Catholics how the past year's scandal has affected their lives.

My name is Barbara Lerner, and I'm here in front of St. Peter's Church in lower Manhattan. One of the things that's changed is the way I give money. I've decided that I'm not going to give to bishops' appeals, cardinals' appeals, anything that goes into institutional church.

I'm Bernard O'Reilly, from Bedminster, New Jersey. It's a failure of management in the church, and not of the faith. They are business managers and they lost their way. They should've stayed as clergymen.

My name is Olga Romero, and I go to the Church of St. Jude in Washington Heights. This scandal has not affected me at all. I've tried to stay firm in my religion, because there are going to be traitors and sinners everywhere.

My name is Robinson Olivares and I attend Our Lady of Lourdes in Upper Manhattan. During the greatest scandals, there have been great changes, so I hope that this sad situation will turn into something beautiful.

The child sexual abuse scandal may have exploded in Boston, but for New York Catholics, the fallout could not be avoided. In local newspapers, approximately one thousand stories -- that's an average of three a day -- were about the crisis. Brooklyn's Bishop, Thomas Daily, who used to work in the Boston Archdiocese, emerged as a major figure in the scandal, for the way he handled two priests whose files contained many allegations of sexual abuse and misconduct. And court documents made public in Connecticut revealed that Cardinal Edward Egan, Archbishop of New York, allowed several priests facing multiple allegations to continue working for years when he was Bishop of Bridgeport.

Melissa Gradel: It's so, um .embarrassing.

Melissa Gradel is the regional coordinator for the Brooklyn chapter of Voice of the Faithful. The group started in Boston, in response to the scandal, and claims about 25-thousand members worldwide.

Gradel: I'm somebody who's usually defending the Catholic Church and defending why I'm part of it. And it's uh, there's a big sense of shame.

She says her prayer life has deepened. And so has her interest in changing the way the church functions as an institution. Gradel is currently working to get Bishop Daily to rescind his decision to bar Voice of the Faithful functions on church property. She has a meeting with diocesan representatives in January.

Gradel: I think I've really taken to heart the notion that we are the church, and if you take that seriously, then we have to acknowledge that the lay people have some responsibility for what's gone wrong, and some responsibility for trying to fix it.

And it's not just Catholics in the pews who are seeking a different give and take with the church's power structure. At least 90 priests from the dioceses of New York, Brooklyn and Long Island joined Voice of the Ordained this fall. Several priests, including Father John Duffell, of Manhattan's Church of the Ascension created the group to assert their rights in the face of strict, new sexual abuse policies adopted by bishops.

Father Duffell: Clergy are not really the people who come together very often and speak out. I'm not sure that this would have happened, as strongly as it has happened, if it were not for what has happened. We have a part to play in the life of the development of the church. It's not just the bishops. I think the bishops can think it's just them, and at times, unfortunately, I think the Pope thinks it's just him.

Some priests fault Bishop Daily and Cardinal Egan for abandoning them; some victims fault the two leaders for not personally reaching out; but, amidst the criticism, the Archdiocese of New York and the Diocese of Brooklyn have made big changes. Bishop Daily has suspended at least eight priests, his spokesperson says. And Daily took the step of signing an agreement with Brooklyn's district attorney to immediately turn over all allegations of child sexual abuse to law enforcement officials. In New York, nine priests have been suspended, their cases pending before an advisory board that's been re-organized to remove Archdiocesan employees, and to include more lay people. Background checks have been initiated, and programs are being developed that teach children the difference between safe, and inappropriate, touching. Spokesperson Joseph Zwilling hopes that all of society has learned more about how to deal with child sexual abuse.

Zwilling: I would hope that in 2003 and beyond that anytime a person has an allegation, they would go immediately to their district attorney, that district attorneys take those allegations seriously. I know that here in the Archdiocese of New York, we take those allegations seriously.

But perhaps the people who have been most affected by the tumultuous events of this year are the ones who are the heart of the matter: those who were molested by priests when they were children. Mark Serrano is a former altar boy who says he was sexually abused by his parish priest from the time he was nine until he was sixteen.

Mark Serrano: Well, this has been a remarkable year of disclosure, revelation, freedom and hope for survivors of abuse. Who would have thought one year ago that we would be in the place where we are today?

Serrano told his story to the New York Times in March, breaking his 1987 confidentiality agreement with the Diocese of Paterson, New Jersey. Serrano, now a spokesperson for the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, says the end of his silence was the beginning of a new life.

Serrano: It has been an absolute whirlwind. I mean, I never would have imagined to have an opportunity to appear on Oprah, and on CNN with Connie Chung. Before this year, my prayer had been, use me, Lord, so that I may reach others, using my life's experience. And what astounded me was that, not only can prayers be answered, but they can be answered in a big way, and mine have been.

While this pivotal year in the Roman Catholic Church comes to a close, the scandal does not. Voice of the Faithful continues to organize and grow, as does Voice of the Ordained. Bishop Daily's mandatory retirement this year at the age of 75 has prompted fifty-eight Brooklyn priests to write a letter to the Pope's representative in the United States, asking to be consulted about Daily's replacement. And Daily himself is a defendant in at least 57 lawsuits in Boston and Brooklyn. For WNYC, I'm Amy Eddings.