A group of almost 100 people gathered outside St. Joseph's Cathedral in Manchester yesterday morning.
It was the first time since January that protestors had spoken out against the Catholic's church handling of the sexual abuse crisis.
And as New Hampshire Public Radio correspondent Rebecca Kaufman reports, they came with a single request.
Many noted that yesterday's late summer breezes were more pleasant than the last protest on a bitter January morning.
The weather wasn't the only difference.
Rick Webb is from "Speak truth to Power" or STTOP-one of the groups that co-sponsored the event.
track 3 :08 this is a single purpose event, we have requested changes in legislation, in policy but this is a single purpose event, to demand the immediate resignation of bishop mccormack and christian
Webb said Bishop John McCormack and Auxiliary Bishop Francis Christian are responsible for keeping incidences of sexual abuse a secret and should be held accountable.
Like many others at the event, Webb came up from Massachusetts.
He said there they forced Cardinal Bernard Law to resign and have brought their fight to New Hampshire.
Phil Cogswell is also from Massachusetts and also with STTOP.
Cogswell said its been difficult to get grassroots support in New Hampshire to demand the bishops' resignations.
But he says, since January, he's seen progress.
track 3 1:48 we would like the people of New Hampshire not to think of us as invaders but someone who can help them dethrone this bishop because most of the people still want him gone, beyond 80% want them to get out of their positions, we've learned and we are still really angry about what McCormick has done, he shuffled my pedophile priest 22 times
New Hampshire Catholics for Moral Leadership is one of the groups leading the fight in the state.
The organization's Anne Coughlin said McCormack's behavior in the Massachusetts diocese makes him an unacceptable leader.
track 2 2:37 we keep hearing that bishop mccormack's mistakes were made in Massachusetts not New Hampshire, as if harming children in another state is any more acceptable than harming children in New Hampshire, we keep hearing he learned from those mistakes and we will be the beneficiaries of that new found wisdom, as if any of us would trust our dog let alone our children to a man with his abysmal record and incredible incapacity to learn from mistakes
Carolyn Disco from New Hampshire's Voice of the Faithful added Bishop Christian is equally as culpable as McCormack.
She charges he allowed children to be abused for 19 years.
track 3 2:45 when the crisis exploded in boston, new hampshire was caught with abusive priests still in service, un-supervised, they were removed only after the attorney general starting asking question, mccormack had been in NH for 4 years before he hurriedly responded, he and christian claim ownership of solutions essentially forced on them but never own up to their roles in the crisis in the first place
Few parishioners were willing at St. Joseph's were willing to talk to reporters.
And to the surprise of many of the protesters, diocese spokesmen Pat McGee sat in the church's courtyard listening to the speakers.
Addressing a group of reporters, McGee said both McCormack and Christian are committed to meeting the needs of sexual abuse victims.
3:30 church is doing a lot, dedicating resources providing counceling, we will continue to do so, its the highest priority
But that's not enough for many who gathered at the cathedral.
They said they will return to St. Joseph's in Manchester every Sunday to force the resignations.
And they called on their own priests to help them.
Ilene Grady is with the New Hampshire Sisters of Mercy.
track 11 3:00
i call for the resignation of the bishop i call for the priests of the diocese to speak up on what they will know help the future of the church and i am sorry for the victims and the immigrant programs that are going down the drains...people feel they can?t help people anymore because the church has lost its moral fiber
For NHPR news, I'm RK.
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