(RNS1-APR14) The Rev. James J. Scahill of Saint Michael’s Roman Catholic Church in East Longmeadow, Mass., stepped into an international media spotlight with his call for Pope Benedict XVI to resign for mishandling the clergy sex abuse scandal. For use with RNS-POPE-PRIEST, transmitted April 14, 2010. RNS photo by Dave Roback/The Republican.

EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (RNS) Calling for Pope Benedict XVI to step down has landed the Rev. James J. Scahill in the middle of the international spotlight.

Ever since issuing his call for the pope’s resignation from the pulpit of St. Michael’s Catholic Church on Sunday (April 11), Scahill has been deluged by e-mails, telephone calls and interview requests from local media outlets, “Good Morning, America,” the BBC and others.

But one parishioner will have no trouble getting the pastor’s ear: the man who stood up and called him a heretic for criticizing the pope.

“I told him I want to sit down and talk,” said Scahill, who appeared on CNN Tuesday afternoon. “I want to explain my position to him, and hear his side.”

Scahill is hardly a stranger to controversy. Since 2002, Scahill has been one of the nation’s most outspoken priests, demanding that his bosses in the church hierarchy be held accountable for failing to confront the child sex abuse scandal.

But nothing in his 36 years of ministry prepared him for the media crush that followed his suggestion the pope — reeling from criticism over his handling of clergy abuse cases while a Vatican official — take greater responsibility for solving the church’s abuse problems or resign. Scahill spoke during four sermons delivered during the weekend.

“We’ve had over 400 phone calls, running about 95 percent in favor,” Scahill said. “I’ve heard from people across the country — including a couple who said, `How can you take on the pope?”‘

The best indication of the parish’s reaction might be the two standing ovations that Scahill received during his sermons at two Sunday Masses.

One dissenting voice has been Scahill’s bishop, the Most Rev. Timothy McDonnell of Springfield, who faulted the timing of Scahill’s sermons on Divine Mercy Sunday, a weekend dedicated to forgiveness, compassion and reconciliation.

For his part, Scahill said he chose last weekend to call for pope’s resignation because it was the feast of St. Thomas the Apostle, also known as “Doubting Thomas” for his initial skepticism about the resurrection of Jesus.

“I think a lot of lay people have strong doubts as to the veracity of our church leaders, in terms of what was known, for how long and by whom,” Scahill said.

Responding to his bishop’s complaint about Divine Mercy Sunday, Scahill noted no priest has shown more compassion for the victims of clergy sexual abuse than he has, and said divine mercy could only come after contrition.

“And that is only going to happen when the church admits to being part of a systemic cover-up” of the abuse cases, Scahill said.

Several victims’ activists have chimed in with support, and one, Olan F. Horne, of Westfield, Mass., invited Scahill to an Oct. 31 rally at the Vatican to demand a resolution to the crisis.

Scahill said the responsibilities of tending to a parish with 2,400 families will prevent him from going to the Vatican. Besides, given all the media attention, Scahill said his message has gotten out.

“The messenger isn’t important here; we need to stay focused on the message,” he said.

Still, some Catholics, while applauding Scahill’s commitment, have expressed ambivalence about his tactics.

Michael W. Forrest, who converted to Catholicism in 1994 and teaches Sunday school in Ludlow, said Benedict deserves respect for confronting the clergy abuse issue.

“By all accounts that I have read from people who know this pope, he’s a part of the solution to this societal plague,” Forrest said.

“The Vatican itself just answered the latest accusation. As such, while I applaud and share Father Scahill’s deep concern for victims, if he’s been quoted accurately, then I’m very disappointed by what he said about the pope.”

(Jack Flynn writes for The Republican in Springfield, Mass.)