Showing posts with label Sex Abuse. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sex Abuse. Show all posts

Friday, March 29, 2019

Pope Francis issues new legislation for protection of minors

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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Pope Francis issues new legislation for protection of minors
2019.03.29

The Vatican on Friday released three new documents from Pope Francis concerning the protection of minors and vulnerable persons in the Vatican City State.

By Christopher Wells

“The protection of minors and vulnerable persons is an integral part of the Gospel message,” Pope Francis insists in the very first line of his Apostolic Letter. The Pope says that it is the duty of all “to generously welcome children and vulnerable persons, and to create a safe environment for them, giving priority to their interests”.

Motu proprio

Accompanied by new legislation for the Vatican City State, and new guidelines from the Vicariate for Vatican City, the Holy Father’s Letter aims at “further strengthening the institutional and normative framework for preventing and combatting abuse against children and vulnerable persons” in the Roman Curia and in Vatican City.

In particular, the documents published on Friday focus primarily on the protection of minors and vulnerable adults, and the prevention of crimes against them; while also providing new regulations concerning the duty of reporting abuse, caring for victims and their families, removing offenders from their positions, and prosecuting those guilty of abuse. In his Letter, the Pope also acknowledges the rights of the accused to a fair and impartial trial, including the presumption of innocence, rule of law, and proportionality in sentencing.

Further, Pope Francis provides new norms for training of Vatican officials and employees about “the risks of exploitation, sexual abuse, and maltreatment of children and vulnerable persons, as well as the means to identify and prevent such offences”.

New Law for Vatican City

Specific details of the new laws promulgated for Vatican City State include a definition of vulnerable persons as anyone in “a state of infirmity, of physical or mental deficiency, or of deprivation of personal liberty” which limits their comprehension, or their ability to resist an offence. Vulnerable persons are considered equivalent to minors for purposes of the new laws and guidelines.

The legislation also sets out a statute of limitations of twenty years, which for crimes against a minor begins when they reach the age of 18.

New “General Protective Measures” provide for purported victims to be informed of their rights, and of the adoption or cessation of measures taken against the liberty of the accused. Care for the confidentiality of victims and their families is a concern throughout the new documents; which also call for measures to protect them from retaliation or intimidation.

An “Accompanying Service” is also established, which will offer a “service of listening” as well as providing medical, psychological, and social services for victims. The service will also help victims understand and vindicate their rights, and assist them in going to the authorities.

Vicariate issues new Guidelines

The Guidelines adopted for the Vicariate of Vatican City are practical means to implement the new laws, and ensure “best practices” with regard to the care and protection of children and vulnerable adults. They insist that all laws and canons in this area must be “scrupulously respected”.

They also call for the Vicar General, who has responsibility for pastoral care within Vatican City, to appoint a Referente, or Contact Person for the Protection of Minors, whose duties include preventing all forms of abuse; training Vatican officials and workers; and welcoming those who make claims of exploitation, sexual abuse, or maltreatment.

The Vicariate also provides definitive guidance for Vatican employees, with norms that require, for instance, that those working with minors should always be visible to others; must report any dangerous behavior; keeping parents informed; and using caution in dealing with minors.

New regulations also flatly forbid any corporal punishment; offending a child or engaging in inappropriate or sexually suggestive conduct; asking children to keep a secret; or filming or photographing a child without written consent from their parents.

The new Law for Vatican City State will go into force on June 1 of this year; while the new Guidelines for the Vicariate, which are being implemented ad experimentum for three years, take effect immediately. 

29 March 2019, 11:56

https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2019-03/pope-francis-legislation-protection-minors-vatiab.html

MORE LINKS

Apostolic Letter Issued "Motu Proprio" by the Supreme Pontiff FRANCIS "As a Loving Mother"

Apostolic Letter Issued "Motu Proprio" by the Supreme Pontiff FRANCIS "On the Protection of Minors and Vulnerable Persons"

Apostolic Letter Issued "Motu Proprio" by the Supreme Pontiff FRANCIS "You are the Light of the World"

Pope emeritus Benedict XVI: Return to God to overcome abuse crisis - Pope emeritus Benedict XVI publishes his reflections on the scandal of sexual abuse in the Church, saying it was made possible by a progressive eclipse of faith in God.

Full text of Benedict XVI essay: 'The Church and the scandal of sexual abuse  

LETTER OF HIS HOLINESS POPE FRANCIS TO THE PEOPLE OF GOD - "If one member suffers, all suffer together with it” 

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Saturday, September 8, 2018

Archbishop Lépine: No refuge in the Church for sex assault perpetrators & "BREAKING THE SILENCE" - Claude Ryan Lecture, Newman Centre, McGill University

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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BREAKING THE SILENCE ABOUT CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE: PROMOTING SAFER PLACES FOR OUR CHILDREN TO GROW - Claude Ryan Lecture at Newman Centre, McGill University, February 12th, 2015 by Dr. Delphine Collin-Vezina, Director, Centre for Research on Children and Families, Tier II Canada Reserach Chair in Child Welfare, Associate Professor, McGill University

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Archbishop Lépine: No refuge in the Church for sex assault perpetrators – "Under my leadership, the Archdiocese of Montreal  ... wish to contribute humbly to the process of justice and healing."


CHRISTIAN LÉPINE, SPECIAL TO MONTREAL GAZETTE        Updated: September 8, 2018

No one can remain indifferent to the turmoil experienced by the victims of sexual abuse at the hands of some members of the Catholic clergy during past decades. On this continent and elsewhere, reports related to abuse and cover-ups have multiplied, hurting us all, irrespective of our faith or our belief.

As archbishop, the impact of these scandals weighs heavily upon me, all the more because this abuse was committed mainly by men in positions of moral authority who pledged to live according to the high standards set out in the Gospel. Such a situation arising within the Church understandably undermines the faith of sincere believers and erodes public trust in this institution.

In expressing his shame and pain recently, Pope Francis is showing us the way forward. The Holy Father states that “looking back to the past, no effort to beg pardon and to seek to repair the harm done will ever be sufficient.” He, therefore, is calling upon the bishops, the priests and all Catholics to make every effort to ensure not only that such incidents never happen again, but also that they are never concealed, by anyone.

Acknowledging that sexual assault is both a grave moral aberration and a crime, we must take decisive action to ensure that sexual aggressors do not use the Church as a refuge where they can operate secretly, thinking they are sheltered from both civil and Church justice.

We must, therefore, put words into action, beginning by accompanying victims, with the utmost care, assisting them both in their personal journey and in approaching law enforcement authorities. But in addition to the pursuit of justice, we must unequivocally send out a clear message that we will never accept that such crimes could be committed and remain concealed.

It is deeply sad to note that, for far too long, the Church hierarchy had failed to prevent sexual abuse and to address and rectify the known abuses quickly and effectively. That is why, more than two decades ago, the Catholic Church of Canada voted to condemn such reprehensible acts and take concrete action. National guidelines for the protection of minors were put in place across the country. And as was announced in a statement Aug. 20 by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops, “This fall, the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops will launch updated and expanded guidelines promoting the safeguarding of minors and increasing accountability and transparency within Church leadership.”

Throughout Canada, bishops are earnestly dealing with the issue. In Montreal, we had already established a Department for Responsible Pastoral Ministry to ensure a safe, responsible and healthy environment within the archdiocese. This has led us to adopt a strict policy regarding abusive behaviour, whether physical, psychological or sexual.

Under my leadership, the Archdiocese of Montreal is determined to get to the bottom of things in the search for truth, and we renew our commitment to ensure that each and every person who calls upon us is received with compassion and respect, and guided, accordingly, to the appropriate authorities. We wish to contribute humbly to the process of justice and healing.

In this respect, we will abide by the words of Jesus: “For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Matthew 7:8)

Christian Lépine is Roman Catholic archbishop of Montreal.

https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/archbishop-lepine-no-refuge-in-the-church-for-sex-assault-perpetrators

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Abus sexuels dans l'Église catholique – Lettre ouverte de l'archevêque de Montréal: Une douleur entendue             Présence information religieuse    2018-09-10 Québec

L'archevêque de Montréal, Christian Lépine, se prononce sur l'actuelle crise entourant les abus sexuels dans l'Église.   (Archives Présence/François Gloutnay)

*Présence publie des documents et des lettres ouvertes en lien avec l'actualité. Voici une lettre que l'archevêque de Montréal, Mgr Christian Lépine, a acheminée au quotidien The Gazette et à lapresse.ca.

Une douleur entendue

Nul ne peut être indifférent à l’épreuve qu’ont traversée les victimes de certains membres du clergé catholique ces dernières décennies. Ici comme ailleurs, des témoignages d’abus se sont multipliés et nous affligent tous, quelle que soit notre foi.

Comme archevêque, j’y vois un scandale d’autant plus grand que les agressions commises l’ont été principalement par des hommes en position d’autorité morale qui se devaient de vivre selon les plus hautes vertus évangéliques. On comprend qu’une telle situation dans l’Église ébranle la foi des croyants sincères et entache la confiance des citoyens envers notre institution.

En exprimant récemment sa honte et sa douleur, le pape François nous trace le chemin à suivre. Le Saint-Père affirme que «considérant le passé, ce que l’on peut faire pour demander pardon et réparation du dommage causé ne sera jamais suffisant». Il invite donc les évêques, les prêtres et l’ensemble des fidèles à tout mettre en œuvre pour que non seulement de telles situations ne se reproduisent plus jamais, mais aussi pour qu’elles ne puissent être dissimulées par qui que ce soit.

Faire la vérité

Partant du fait que les agressions sexuelles sont des fautes morales très graves et des crimes, nous devons jouer un rôle actif pour que les agresseurs ne trouvent pas refuge dans notre Église pour opérer dans le secret et penser s’y mettre à l’abri de la justice ecclésiale et civile.

Il faut donc passer de la parole au geste, en commençant par accompagner avec le plus grand soin une victime, dans son cheminement et ses démarches auprès des autorités policières. Mais au-delà de cette quête de justice, nous soutenons le message clair que nous n’accepterons jamais que de tels crimes soient commis et restent dans l’ombre.

Il est navrant de constater que, trop souvent, la hiérarchie ecclésiale n’a pas su prévenir les agressions et en rectifier rapidement et efficacement les dérives. C’est pourquoi, il y a plus de deux décennies, l’Église canadienne s’est prononcée pour condamner les actes répréhensibles et prendre des mesures concrètes. Des lignes directrices nationales pour la protection des personnes mineures avaient alors été mises en place. «Cet automne, la Conférence des évêques catholiques du Canada lancera une édition mise à jour et enrichie de ces lignes directrices afin de promouvoir la protection des personnes mineures et d’accroître la responsabilisation et la transparence chez les responsables de l’Église.»

Prévenir

Partout au pays, les évêques prennent la question très au sérieux. Ainsi, à Montréal,, nous avons mis sur pied un service diocésain de pastorale responsable visant à assurer un environnement sain et sécuritaire au sein de l’archidiocèse. Cela nous a amenés à nous doter d’une politique stricte en matière de comportements abusifs de nature physique, psychologique ou sexuelle.

Sous ma direction, l’archidiocèse de Montréal veut aller au fond des choses dans la recherche de la vérité et renouvèle son engagement à ce que toute personne qui fait appel à nous soit accueillie avec compassion et respect puis guidée vers les autorités compétentes. Nous souhaitons ainsi contribuer humblement au processus de justice et de guérison.

En cela, nous nous conformerons aux paroles de Jésus : «Car quiconque demande reçoit, celui qui cherche trouve, et l'on ouvre à celui qui frappe» (Matthieu 7, 8).

Mgr Christian Lépine
Archevêque de Montréal

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Thursday, August 16, 2018

Where is Jesus in the midst of the Church's sex abuse crisis?

----------------------------------------------------------------

There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

----------------------------------------------------------------

My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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Where is Jesus in the midst of the Church's sex abuse crisis? By Courtney Grogan  Washington D.C., Aug 16, 2018 


Crucifix. Credit: Lucia Ballester/CNA.

Fr. Thomas Berg is a priest of the Archdiocese of New York, a former Legionary of Christ, and professor of moral theology, vice rector, and director of admissions at St. Joseph’s Seminary in Dunwoodie, NY.  He is author of Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics. He spoke recently with CNA’s Courtney Grogan about the challenges Catholics face amid the Church’s sexual abuse and misconduct scandals. The interview is below, edited for clarity and length.

With everything that has been coming out in the news recently about sexual abuse in the Church, how do you think that your book, “Hurting in the Church: A Way Forward for Wounded Catholics,” could be helpful?

In the wake of the McCarrick scandal and ongoing revelations of priest sexual abuse, a very common reaction is one of betrayal. That's what I have heard a lot of from persons who have reached out to me, especially persons who for years have collaborated with bishops, worked in chanceries, worked for bishops, collaborated in apostolates, have headed-up bishop’s capital campaigns, have been donors and so on. Part of the very common experience is this raw emotional wound of betrayal.

Much of my book speaks directly to that experience. That's where I really hope that persons who are going through that betrayal, profound discouragement, disappointment, the bewilderment of the moral failures of bishops, who either failed to report what they should have reported or did not act on what was reported to them. That is scandalous and that opens up a wound of betrayal really in the whole mystical body. I very much believe that the book can, hopefully, point to where is the good news in this -- Where is the hope in this? Where is Jesus in the midst of this crisis?

Where is Jesus in the midst of this crisis?

Jesus is the healer of wounds, and Jesus does not leave the members of his mystical body without healing when we seek it. We are in the midst of a massive crisis, notwithstanding some resistance to that idea by some of our prelates. And those wounds are opened up. This is where not only can Jesus bring healing, but he can also use that experience of woundedness, whether that is personally or institutionally or spiritually as the body of Christ. He uses those wounds to bring greater good, to bring grace and healing to His Church.

Part of what I do in the book is just to reflect, often with these individuals [victims of abuse] and sometimes in their own words, on this mystery that the Jesus who comes into this experience is Jesus who appeared with his glorious wounds. The wounds were still there. The wounds are mystically important and we can unite our wounds to Jesus and allow him to unite those in a mystical way, in a redemptive way to His redemptive work.

So, where is Jesus in all of this? Jesus is continuing in the midst of our brokenness, in the midst of the utter moral failures of our pastors, in the midst of our own sinfulness and brokenness. The risen Good Shepherd comes with his glorious wounds by which he intends to bring about healing in his Church and to bring about a much greater good and a much more glorious future precisely in and through the tragedies that we are experiencing.

We will also experience this in a much more glorious and beautiful day for the Church in the future, and certainly for the Church when all time has been consummated and we are all, by God's grace, caught up in the glory of the heavenly kingdom.

You discuss in the book how uprooting a betrayal of trust can be and how we really need to be grounded in Christ's love. What are some concrete ways that Catholics can really root themselves in Christ's love and find that grounding in a time when they might feel destabilized in the Church?

First, very practical immediate answer: Eucharistic adoration. No doubt about it. That was essentially my homily when we were talking two weeks ago about the McCarrick thing from the pulpit. It means, as always in crisis, we need to be earnestly and deeply seeking the Lord by frequenting Eucharistic adoration and intensifying one's life of prayer. In my own story, I had to go on retreat. I had to just go take some time to just be by myself to get that down to the solid foundation of what did I stand on. What was the foundation that everything that I believed stood on?

What one can come to in those experiences is that experience of Jesus -- the experience that our risen and glorious Lord still stands present in the midst of our lives. He is there. When we are hurting, we need to do whatever it takes: adoration, retreat, increased prayer, asceticism, solid spiritual reading, all of the things that we can avail ourselves of God's grace to re-experience ourselves as rooted and grounded in His love. God has a very big safety net for us and it is that reality of being truly rooted and grounded in Him and in His love that encompasses us.

It is just that when we are hurting, when we are scandalized, when we are angry, when we are experiencing all of this emotional turbulence, it is just -- it takes time and prayer and I think a lot of coming to silence and coming to quiet to get through that and to realize that our Lord is still there. Our Lord is still holding his hands out to us. Our Lord is still there to embrace us and pick us up and guide us and help us to move forward.

What would you say to the priest who just doesn't know how to address this from the pulpit, who is dealing with his own feelings of hurt and confusion, and maybe is on the fence about whether he should address it in a homily?

I think that the best thing that priest can do is to talk about that in his homily. It is emotionally exhausting for most of us. It is heartbreaking. When I preached a couple of weekends ago, I got emotional. I think it is very healing and good if priests allow themselves to feel and show that emotion. Feel and show how personally upsetting it is. If a priest is angry, tell your people, 'Yeah, I'm angry too, and you should be angry.' It should start there.

It is absolutely essential that this is addressed. No priest should be waiting for some directive from his bishop. I would hope that across the country most priests have already addressed this from the pulpit. If not, it absolutely has to happen.

People are very angry right now, and I do not think that they are identifying that anger as a hurt. Many people are channeling their anger into what needs to change in the Church. Some channel it at specific people in the Church.

You address healthy anger in the book, and I want to hear your thoughts on it in this context. What would you say to people who are very angry?

There is certainly such a thing as just anger. I would hope that most of the anger that what most committed Catholics are experiencing right now is precisely that -- “just anger.” I have experienced a good deal of bit of it in the past few weeks. Hopefully that anger does get channelled into good positive, action steps that I think Catholics are taking. But people should also be very honest with themselves: This hurts. I think that our brothers and sisters who are going through this right now, and they are many, need to own up to that.

That is a very healthy starting point to getting to a better place. In this context, it is an important part of rightly channeling our energies and our reactions prayerfully and in docility to the Holy Spirit. We have to allow the Holy Spirit to come fully into that experience of hurt in this ecclesial context.

The immediate victims of McCarrick, those who have suffered sexual exploitation, they are hurt in a very unique way, but in some sense this has inflicted a hurt on all of us. And those who failed, those who enabled him, those who pulled him up the ecclesiastical ladder, if they did so with knowledge of his sexual predation, that inflicts a real emotional hurt on all of us, and we should just admit that.

Many Catholics first faced these initial feelings of betrayal, shock, bewilderment in 2002. After positive steps forward like the Dallas Charter, these Catholics found some consolation in the fact that the Church had made positive changes. Now there are layers of hurt there, particularly the hurt of thinking that things were better and then discovering that they are not.

The Church might not change in our lifetimes. Reform in the Church takes so long. The Church is very good at reforming herself, but it can take centuries sometimes. I'm worried for people who are looking for a quick fix.

I think that you are hitting at the heart of the problem. One thing that we are being faced with in this crisis is the reality that effective change within the Church takes a very, very long time. Even within organizations, people talk about changing the internal culture of a business, even that in itself can take a long time.

First of all, there is no reason why we cannot continue to take genuine pride in the programs that have been set in place with the sacrifice and dedication by the way of hundreds of lay Catholic men and women who have jumped into this breach and who have instituted requirements for background checks, safe environment training, safe environment programs, who serve the Church as sexual abuse assistance coordinators in dioceses (these are people who deal one on one especially with victims of clergy sexual abuse.) So we have every reason frankly to be confident that we are in a much better place then we were 15 years ago to protect our children. There is no reason to doubt that.

What people are still reeling from, and this has been the real revelation, is that there has been, especially within the episcopacy, there has been an internal culture which allowed -- and I am not faulting all bishops here, but McCarrick is the child of an old boys school mentality, a culture where bishops too often understood themselves as members of this kind of privileged caste who used power and authority to manipulate and frankly to bring about all kind of harms and hurts in people's lives. Bishops have sadly often been the perpetrators of much of the hurt that has been experienced on many levels and in many forms in the Church. And that is a sickly culture and it has to change.

The Church desperately needs a healing in its episcopacy. This is very much a crisis of the episcopacy. The current ethos is in so many ways it is failing us. It is failing the Church. What we have is, in far too many cases, a kind of managerial approach. Bishops simply seek to manage, to contain, to bureaucratize our apostolates, and that is not a culture where the Church is going to thrive.

Is that going to change anytime soon? No, but I think that we have an opportunity. This crisis is putting a spotlight on that problematic culture within the episcopate. I think that we can be hopeful for some kind of change, maybe even sea change. There are good and holy bishops out there who are as incensed about this as you or I or any of us are. It is my prayer and hope that they will begin to exercise some very kind of unprecedented leadership within the body of bishops and certainly within their own dioceses.

So what do Catholics do meanwhile? Well, we are challenged to exercise the supernatural virtue of hope. We are challenged to believe that that kind of change, if it is meant to be, will take time, but we have to support every bishop who shows signs that they are getting it. We have to support every bishop who shows signs that they understand and that they are taking unprecedented steps towards transparency, toward addressing even the faults of their own brother bishops.

We need to be supportive and helpful, and I guess that is a long way of saying that we need to hang in there and trust in the Holy Spirit. Change does take a long time in the Church. We are called to continue to exercise hope and it is by sustaining hope and sustaining a healthy pressure on the bishops that can bring about some really positive change here, maybe faster than we think.

As outrageous as it is, I can imagine the temptation a leader might feel to keep something so scandalous secret, to think that they were protecting Catholics from scandal by a sort of false charity, if you will. How does a leader find the courage or strength to come forward with the truth after they have covered up?

In the context of the Church, bishops who get it have come to understand that the scandal has been the supposed effort to “avoid scandal.” The scandal has been covering this stuff up. The scandal has been keeping this stuff quiet.

This is what I always tell our seminarians. Transparency is your friend. Light and truth are our friends. Institutionally, I think that we are understanding that. In the context of seminary formation, I really believe earnestly that the vast majority of our men understand that. And I think understanding that also makes it easier to come clean when there has been a failure of any sort. In a sense, it all boils down to the old adage, 'Honesty is the best policy.'

Obviously, when you are talking about something as complex as sexual abuse and exploitation, that is obviously much more complex because sometimes you are dealing with victims who desire to remain anonymous.

It takes an enormous amount of courage for victims of abuse to come forward and go public. That's been 1 sad part of this whole tragedy. It is so difficult. The courage there is just amazing sometimes. I think the message of what we are learning in the sexual abuse crisis is that transparency is the only way to go. Honestly trying to protect the requirements of justice and people's reputations is a difficult balance and it definitely requires that transparency.

What do you recommend for those who are specifically dealing with disillusionment? How do Catholics keep their eyes open to the truth without totally succumbing to cynicism?

I think that the level of cynicism and disillusionment right now is off the charts. You know people often use that image of having a bandage ripped off a wound. I don't think that we have yet healed from -- I know we haven't healed from 2002. This isn't having a bandage ripped off. This is having that wound ripped open and stamped on.

I'm fully expecting that the level of disillusionment and just shear kind of numb confusion is going to be a very common experience. I think that there will be different outcomes. I hope that Catholics can believe that there is a way forward here, especially committed Catholics. It leads you to question your faith. I have been there. I have had that experience. The more you expose yourself to this, the more faith is going to be severely challenged.

I would just hope though that Catholics can understand that Jesus can lead them through that fire. He can lead us through this fire and make it a purifying fire, so that we can emerge from this really sad and really critical chapter of crisis in the Church, that we can emerge from this as stronger disciples and more committed Catholic Christians.

What transformation the Holy Spirit brings about, I hope we could no matter how hard this is, I hope we could kind of look forward to that with a sense of hope and expectation and maybe even the sense that as bad as it is, I want to be a part of what happens now. I want to be a part of the renewal that the Holy Spirit is going to necessarily going to bring about. I want to be a part of the action here. I want to be a part of what the Holy Spirit is going to do now in the Church. I am absolutely convinced that the Holy Spirit is working in and through this crisis in a very real way. I have experienced it myself. I have seen it and I have heard it from others.

We have to allow the Holy Spirit to bring us beyond this very profound disillusionment.

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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Monday, November 20, 2017

Understanding, compassion, help, and support for victims and survivors of sexual abuse - two articles

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There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't want society or public opinion to know, that even they don't want to know. To sum up those facts - accumulated in different human cultures and societies - we don't need sex to live a full life and be content. To define one's identity on the basis of our sexuality alone is to reduce our human value and dignity. I am a lot more than just my genitalia, and so are you. G.S.

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best human efforts to make sense of our lives - and of our human sexuality in particular - also including the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium. The Church has been accumulating much valuable wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7 
Father Gilles Surprenant, priest & poustinik

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(1)   
The church must build ‘spiritual ramps’ to sex abuse survivors

(2)   'A long and tortuous road': Catholic brother's guilty plea brings relief for victim, but not closure

The church must build ‘spiritual ramps’ to sex abusesurvivors   Lea Karen Kivi   May 12, 2017

In recent years, the church has made great progress opening its doors to people with disabilities. Most churches now have physical ramps that give people with limited mobility access to the spiritual nourishment of the church.

But what about the Catholic faithful who are inhibited from entering the church, not by a physical disability but a sacramental one? When survivors of sexual abuse by members of the clergy encounter the symbols of Christianity through which they were abused, they may experience feelings ranging from severe discomfort to panic attacks. I consider these “sacramental disabilities.” One young girl, for example, was told by the priest who sexually abused her that if she ever told anyone about what he did to her, Jesus would come down from the cross and kill her. One young boy was sexually molested by a priest at the altar. Unless their trauma is addressed, survivors like this young boy and girl might never be able to walk through the doors of the church or participate fully in the sacramental life of the church.

Unless their trauma is addressed, survivors might never be able to walk through the doors of the church.

What might be a charitable response to those suffering from a sacramental disability? Wheelchair ramps help disabled persons enter into a church building. There is a need for spiritual ramps to enable Mother Church to go in the other direction: to come down and seek out those who have been sacramentally disabled, knowing that it is extraordinarily difficult for survivors to speak of their abuse to anyone, let alone ask for sacramental modifications.

The sad reality is that victim-blaming is likely to be the response of some parishioners to survivors of clergy abuse. Learning to speak about very sensitive issues in a caring way requires practice. Some parishes have shown leadership in this regard. The Newman Centre at the University of Toronto offered discussions about the movie “Spotlight” to help parishioners and students process their strong reactions to this movie. St. Anthony’s Shrine in Boston has hosted several meetings for persons wishing to share with others how they have been affected by the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

What might be a charitable response to those suffering from a sacramental disability?

Once a parish community breaks the ice with such an event, offering workshops led by qualified healing professionals specifically on how to respond compassionately to survivors of any form of sexual abuse might minimize the risk of survivors being further traumatized by how members of faith communities respond to them. Similarly, inviting survivors of clergy sexual abuse who wish to assist the church in healing and reconciliation efforts to speak of their experiences provides firsthand knowledge of the sensitivities involved. Identifying caring church members willing to bring the love of Mother Church to survivors of clergy abuse would be a good next step. Once such individuals are identified and trained in communicating with traumatized individuals, perhaps in collaboration with a local sexual assault center and psychologists specializing in healing from trauma, engaging in outreach activities could begin.

Compiling a list of referrals to qualified, competent and survivor-sensitive health professionals, priests, women religious and spiritual directors in a diocese would be very helpful to outreach efforts. Because many survivors of abuse have left their parishes, advertising in local and social media that a parish cares about those wounded in the church, and offers to help them meet their specific needs, is an important work in building a spiritual ramp. Then, a parish might provide a way for a survivor to contact a trained parishioner by telephone or email to be a listening ear, prayer partner, referral provider or supporter who might agree, for example, to meet at the church door and sit with the survivor at Mass.

Finally, no matter one’s role in church life, prayers for the healing and reconciliation of clergy abuse survivors with the church constitute the most important nails in the construction of any spiritual ramp.

The media reports of abuse in the church may have overwhelmed and tired the faithful to the point of not wanting to hear any more about clergy sexual abuse. But ignoring the cross does not mean that it is not still there. By embracing this cross, the church has an opportunity to grow into its full maturity as Mother Church to a hurting world.

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Victim and Abuser Insight

'A long and tortuous road': Catholic brother's guilty plea brings relief for victim, but not closure    Following the guilty plea of a Catholic brother who sexually abused a minor at Collège Notre-Dame decades ago, the victim looks back at his life and what might need to come next.

JESSE FEITH, MONTREAL GAZETTE         More from Jesse Feith, Montreal Gazette Published on: November 20, 2017 | Last Updated: November 20, 2017 9:09 AM EST

After waiting seven years for the moment to come, he was anxious the night before. He kept his phone close and waited for the prosecutor’s call: surely, as had already happened so many times, there would be another delay. But the call never came. So the next morning, he woke early and left for the Montreal courthouse.

He had barely slept and now his brain was racing throughout the hour-long drive. Was he wasting his time? He had gotten his hopes up before only to have them dashed by procedural delays and setbacks. Last spring, he was told it would all be over by September. Now it was November.

It was only once he was sitting in a cubicle at the Montreal courthouse last Tuesday that he realized the wait was finally over. First, there was a warning: the man who abused him so many years ago was in the courtroom next to him. Then, the Crown prosecutor opened the door. “It’s time,” she told the victim. 

On the morning of Nov. 14, Brother Olivain Leblanc, 75, of the Congrégation de Ste. Croix sat before a judge — his health too poor for him to stand — and pleaded guilty to one count of gross indecency for sexually abusing a 13-year-old student at Montreal’s Collège Notre-Dame. The acts, which included oral sex and sexual touching, occurred repeatedly between 1979 and 1981, it was said.

“It’s been a long and tortuous road,” the victim, a man in his early 50s whose name is covered under a publication ban, said a few days later, sipping a coffee while walking along a river.

For decades, he had tried to repress memories of what was done to him. But for the last seven years — the time that elapsed between his complaint to police and Leblanc’s guilty plea — he needed to keep them at surface level, knowing he could be called to testify at any given moment. The stress of it all could be debilitating.

“I was living in this void with no sense of direction,” he said. “I sacrificed seven years of my life because I knew what I was getting myself into. I knew, psychologically, it would be a war of attrition.”

After being expelled from the college during his last year of high school, he went on to live a solitary lifestyle, struggling to find his footing in life while dealing with the psychological after-effects. For years he said nothing of what was done to him. To cope, he would tell himself it didn’t affect him and wouldn’t stop him from leading a normal life. But it always came back to haunt him, he said.

“My soul was dead,” he explained. “The flame that lives inside of you and guides you through life? That’s what was killed.” He continued: “You don’t live, you survive. You’re always grabbing on to one buoy here, another buoy there, anything you can hold on to so you can keep your head above water.”

In 1991, he broke his silence and contacted the college’s director about the abuse. Two years later, he received $250,000 — a significant chunk of which went toward his legal fees — and was made to sign a confidentiality agreement. In 2010, after learning of other victims who attended the college, he contacted the police. In early 2013, Leblanc was charged in criminal court. Later the same year, following many delays, the Congrégation de Ste. Croix finalized a settlement to hand out $18 million to more than 200 victims from three schools, including Collège Notre-Dame.

Of all the years since his abuse, he said, it was the most recent years, filled with uncertainty about the court proceedings and an urge to get it over with, that were the hardest. Now he’s focused on what comes next and feels as though he’s on the cusp of a second life. 

About a month before his day in court, he started writing down what he would say when given the chance to address not only the judge but also Leblanc. He struggled to find the right words, but knew them by the time he entered the courtroom last week.

He scanned the room as he opened the door. He saw Leblanc sitting by the aisle. He couldn’t believe the state he was in. He had aged and gained so much weight, he thought. He noticed the walker next to him.

During the proceedings, Leblanc apologized to both the victim and the victim’s deceased mother, who he said he knew.

The emotions the victim felt from then on are difficult to explain, he said.

To him, Leblanc’s apology seemed sincere. For the first time, he said, he felt he was dealing with an individual and not the congregation.

“I know he’s a seasoned manipulator, but the man I saw there … I felt it. He was humbled,” he said.

“It might sound strange, but it did me good to see him again,” he added, pausing to carefully choose his next words.

“For all these years, I had built up this image of him as a monster in my mind. That leaves a mark on you. It weighs on you. With his apology, he showed me that in the end, he’s capable of being human. And that’s important to me.”

On his way to the stand, he said Leblanc whispered to him: “It’s OK. Go ahead.”

After being expelled from Collège Notre-Dame, the victim explained in his statement, he had gone to see Leblanc. If there was anyone in the school who could help him, he figured, it was him. But Leblanc told him there was nothing he could do for him.

He never forgot about that moment. And so in court, he repeated it: “Now it’s my turn to tell him that there’s nothing I can do for him,” he told the judge.

Leblanc was sentenced to 15 months of house arrest, a joint recommendation from Crown prosecutors and the defence team. He will also be on Canada’s sex offender registry for 20 years.

There’s one thing left, the victim said, that he knows he needs to do, even though he’s aware some might not understand it. Religion no longer plays any role in his life, he said. His faith was stolen from him at the college. But he still believes in the process of reconciliation.

“I know I will need to forgive him,” he said. “He killed me, but I need to forgive him, eventually. Maybe after his sentence. I’ll need to do it for myself. Not for him. As long as I don’t, I won’t be able to let go.”

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My purpose in these posts is to bring together significant and, where possible, representative echoes of our best efforts as human beings to make sense of our lives in general - and of our human sexuality in particular - and to also include the voice of Jesus Christ, the one Saviour of the world, and testimonies from his Church, such as through her teaching voice, the Magisterium; given that the Church has been accumulating the wisdom granted her by Almighty God since her foundation at Pentecost. In this way, wherever there is darkness in our human understanding, it will serve to highlight the bright and radiant truth, which is Jesus Christ: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, you will know my Father also." John's Gospel 14:6-7     G.S.

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© 2006-2023 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal  QC
© 2006-2023 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
 

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"I worry that my husband may leave me." OR "I am troubled that my wife no longer loves me." What light is there to dispell our darkness from the Wisdom of God revealed in his Eternal Word?

  ---------------------------------------------------------------- There are facts and truths that "sexual libertarians" don't...