Starting Justice at Home
Kevin Hayes is the President of Catholics for Change in our Church and the founding principle of an architecture firm, the Hayes Design Group. In 2018 when the Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing sex abuse in the Catholic Church was released, as a Pittsburgh native and lifelong Catholic, he was shaken. In reaction to that report a group of laity came together for a listening session and from that initial gathering came the framework for Catholics for Change in our Church. They coalesced around focus groups: support for abuse survivors and their families, financial transparency, addressing clericalism, strengthening and diversifying the clergy, pathways to lay leadership, and engaging and empowering youth. Their mission has now spread to 40+ groups around the United States and Canada who follow this model. In our conversation Kevin addresses the issue of clericalism in the Church and stresses the importance of listening to the marginalized voices in our community.