While she loves the Church, Maya said she has found it "painful" in recent months to recite the words of the Creed: "One, holy, Catholic and apostolic Church."
Maya said she was tempted to stop saying that part of the Creed "until something concrete happened. Then I realized this was my Church and wondered what was mine to do."
She said she was recently asked by a friend why Catholics should stay in the Church after all of the scandals, and Maya said after a long silence, she responded: "We stay because of Jesus Christ."
"How do we return to (Christ) for mercy and reconciliation, for the grit to do what is our to do?" she asked the bishops.
She said she prayed that the bishops would have a "deep capacity" to listen to the survivors of clerical abuse, to hear their anger and their pain.
The bishops are entrusted with the task of being the "phsycians and healers" of the Church, but "the best physicians are first good listeners," she said.
Maya then offered the bishops three ways they could learn from orders of women religious, who have gone through their own trials and crises, and who now face sharply declining numbers and aging populations.
The bishops must face the scandals together, with a listening and contemplative heart, and must be willing to root out anything that goes against discipleship with Christ, she said.
"You are called to renewed spiritual depth," which will enable the bishops to discern the good spirits from the bad, she said.
She urged the bishops to renewed communion among themselves, and to have the willingness to listen to other bishops who have put policies and procedures in place that have actually worked to help bring healing and reconciliation to survivors of abuse.
"You should not expect the Vatican to resolve what is yours to resolve," she said. "The Vatican doesn't have the knowledge, resources and gifts that you do. You can be models for the rest of the world. I urge you to seize this opportunity."
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