| California diocese holds [healing service] for
abuse victims
By NCR STAFF
Amid numerous apologies from Catholic church officials around the
world, the Oakland, Calif., diocese held what was believed to be an
unprecedented [healing service] for victims of clergy sexual
abuse.
About 130 people attended the March 25 [healing
service] led by Bishop John S. Cummins. The diocese offered regret for
the “grave evil” of sexual abuse and committed to compassionate care
for the victims and to never repeat the sins of the past.
During the service, clergy and survivors read an exchange of
prayers and lamentations depicting the wrongs done to victims and the remorse
of the clergy.
“These evils may continue in some places in the church
today,” Cummins said, asking for the forgiveness of survivors of sexual
abuse. “The failure of many of the leaders of the Catholic church to
confront this abuse head-on, to remove priest abusers and other employees from
active ministry or to take the side of the victims has been one of the more
distressing aspects of the church’s recent history.”
Sr. Barbara Flannery, diocesan chancellor, said the
[service] was “only a beginning, a step down a very long
path that we hope will lead to forgiveness from those we have
offended.”
The [service] was held in a “neutral”
setting at a lodge in Oakland, because many survivors are unable to enter
church grounds. Survivors who attended the service described losing the ability
to trust and being victimized by church officials who refused to believe them.
Some said they’d been molested as small children, while some were abused
as adults. Most were Catholic, but some were from other denominations.
“Victorious, that’s what I feel, victorious,” said
Sonia Rubino of San Francisco. Rubino said she was sexually abused by a priest
when she was a child in El Salvador. “It was a breakthrough for me,
breaking the ice and speaking the truth. It’s my truth, and I will
continue speaking.” She added that she hopes the [service]
“sends a message to other dioceses.”
Other survivors echoed the hope that the Oakland
[service] would inspire similar services elsewhere. “This is
one of 188 [U.S.] dioceses. In 187 dioceses, this has not happened,” said
Terrie Light, West Coast representative for the Survivors Network of those
Abused by Priests (SNAP).
National Catholic Reporter, April 7, 2000
[corrected 04/28/2000]
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