"For them not to take that opportunity would not result in the destruction of the Church in the United States, would not result in a mass exodus- but it would cause [deep seated and resigned] damage that would take a long, long time to repair."
"Perfect opportunity to expand the role of women"
Dr. Grazie Christie, Policy Advisor for the Catholic Association, said investigating the Cardinal McCarrick affair and redoubling their commitment to a "culture of life" and religious liberty should be priorities of the upcoming meeting.
Christie was one nearly 50,000 women who signed a letter to Pope Francis seeking answers about the situation with McCarrick.
"The recent Synod document called for more active involvement for women, and this would be a perfect opportunity to expand the role of women," she wrote in an email to CNA.
"Laywomen, in particular, who love and support the Church and are active in their parishes can be helpful to the Bishops when it comes to identifying good priests and religious and recommending future leaders."
"A systemic 'looking the other way'"
Dr. Nathaniel Peters, Executive Director of the Morningside Institute, told CNA that the bishops' response to the abuse crisis should reflect their status as spiritual fathers to American Catholics.
Peters was among the signatories of an August letter from young Catholics to Catholic bishops.
"A lot of the responses that we've gotten from bishops [to the crisis] have been the responses that presidents of non-profit organizations make," Peters said.
"Which are all well and good...bishops are kind of managerial, and [do] govern. But...bishops are also fathers, and their responses should sound on some level like a father...not one primarily of damage control."
Peters said he hopes the bishops will make clear that the Church's parlance of "vulnerable adults" should include seminarians and priests as well. In his eyes, the problem is not just that children are involved, but a general decline of chastity and a rise of sexual assault; a "systemic looking the other way" and avoidance of confrontation over sin.
He emphasized that the bishops need to recognize that the current crisis in the Church is not "just" about the abuse of children, as pressing as that issue is, but also issues of abuses of power more generally.
"I would want the bishops to make clear that they understand that the problem isn't just that there were a few bad priests that preyed on children years ago, and that we've 'fixed' that now," he said.
"The bishops have not clearly communicated that it's wrong to prey on seminarians, that it's wrong for priests to live double lives and be sexually active, whether or not they are sexually active with people who are consenting...with men or with women."
He said the bishops' credibility on a host of moral issues, including abortion and immigration, has taken a hit, especially among young people.
"I think the worst case scenario would be that the worst responses that we've gotten from individual bishops emerge as the corporate response of the body as a whole," he said.
"That the bishops would be seen to be more managerial than paternal...that people come away with a sense that not much has changed, or that bishops are not really interested in actually making the changes that need to be made."
Alternatively, he said, the best-case scenario would involve bishops who have wanted to kind of work toward systemic changes in their diocese, and more broadly in the Church, feel empowered to do so.
"When it comes to cases of sexual assault in the Church, this shouldn't be a [political] matter, it should really just be a matter of opposition and a desire for justice and truth when violations take place," Peters said.
"And it also shouldn't be about covering for the person on your "side"...what's more important than the "victory" of your theological position at this point is the vindication of victims, and exposing the truth about evil that's committed in the Church."
Peters expressed consternation at the fact that government authorities are taking it upon themselves to investigate some diocese across the country because of a lack of transparency.
"Certainly 5 years ago, 10 years ago, among the young Catholics I know, if you had told us that the attorney generals for a handful of states are going to go after the Church with racketeering laws, we would have said immediately, 'This is terrible, this is anti-Catholic bias,'" he said.
"It's very striking that those same people now have basically said, 'Good.' And if you're a bishop, that should be really sobering...the people who are your closest supporters are happy that state- and now federal- prosecutors have your diocese in their crosshairs. Because they think that that's how [the Church] is actually going to be changed."
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.