Children suffer bombings, amputations, and starvation? Why are their lives not defended with the same passion? The absence of protest in the face of these horrors raises an uncomfortable question.

Some Catholics no longer attend Mass—not from a lack of belief, but because they cannot sit through exclusionary lectionary texts or listen to priests who speak harshly about those they love. These departures are not rejections of Christ, but silent acts of spiritual self-preservation.