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The Pastoral Response Assistance Team, Inc. wishes to congratulate the Irish Government and the the Commission to Inquire into Child Abuse (CICA), itself for their extensive investigation into the physical, sexual, emotional abuse and neglect of children being cared for in institutions in Ireland.
The CICA fittingly noted that: “this Report should give rise to debate and reflection. Although institutional care belongs to a different era, many of the lessons to be learned from what happened have contemporary applications for the protection of vulnerable people in our society.”
While we are also cognizant of the pain and disruption such a report causes, our experience is that the Irish people in dealing with the issue head on, will be a model for others yet to deal with these problems.
As an understanding of the crisis developed over the years as allegations and widespread abuse surfaced in the Archdiocese of Boston and then throughout the United States and the world, our work, for the last seventeen years, as a multi-disciplinary group of professionals: therapists, attorneys, educators and others in Boston has been to address the issue as we would any family system in crisis.
The Pastoral Response Assistance Team, Inc. has presented workshops on the international, national and local level to “professionally assist” the Church in responding to the issues facing the Church family. Indeed our first international presentation was in Dublin in 1996, at the International Congress on Child Abuse and Neglect.
Working from the perspective of the Church as a family system the Team promotes an open, honest, discussion of the issue of sexual abuse in a Church setting among all those affected: “to heal wounds, to unite what has fallen apart, and to bring home those who have lost their way” (St. Francis of Assisi). The ripple effect of sexual abuse in the Church, as in any family system, affects the lives of many in addition to the victim/survivor.
The Pastoral Response Assistance Team has been able to provide these services with little financial support due to over twenty thousand hours of donated services provided by the long term commitment of highly skilled professionals.
There are many areas that need further attention:
Spiritual issues:
• many survivors feel guilt for allowing the abuse to happen or blame themselves because they did not tell and thus spare later victims the same pain the suffered;
• parents often blame themselves for not seeing what was happening and family members of alleged or convicted perpetrators feel guilty that something they did or neglected to do caused the person to become a perpetrator;
• many of the elderly were victims as well and have never had an opportunity to talk about it with anyone. These victims of clergy, family or others have been forced to face what happened to them by the constant coverage of the issue in recent years;
• the elderly who have always considered the Church as a family which supported them throughout their lives find the Church no longer provides a strong sense of support as they age. The declining Church attendance, the diminishing number of clergy available to parishes and financial struggles have forced many churches to close.
Victims who have not come forward:
• the magnitude of the problems at times, has pushed to the sidelines the issue of finding and supporting those victims who have not felt comfortable coming forward;
• criticism of financial settlements for victims has made some victims hesitate to seek spiritual and emotional support.
Protocol for investigations:
• the lack of a consistent protocol for competent, thorough, professional, independent investigations of allegations in a timely manner has left those accused unsupported and insolated and does further damage to victims as well.
The Commission has performed an invaluable service to all children not only those subject to their investigation. They have officially recognized all victims with their recognition of “the dignity, courage and fortitude of witnesses who endeavoured to recall events that had happened many years ago.”
It is up to all of us, now, to seriously address these issues in whatever ways we can because the Church family continues to feel the loss of trust and the pain that accompanies such allegations in any family. We commend the commission and those who called for its establishment for the comprehensive and courageous look at a very difficult issue.
The Commission was made up of an outstanding multi-disciplinary team, a model that should be followed as we all begin the work they indicate still needs to be done. Our deepest appreciation to
• The Honourable Mr. Justice Sean Ryan – Judge of the High Court.
• Ms. Norah Gibbons – Child Care Director.
• Mr. Fred Lowe – Principal Clinical Psychologist.
• Marian Shanley – Commissioner at the Law Reform Commission.
• Professor Edward Tempany – Retired Consultant Paediatrician.
• Ms. Anne McLoughlin – Social Worker.
• Ms. Mary Fennessy – Head Social Worker.
There is much healing to be done in the Church family and as Robert C. Bordone stated in a Boston Globe article January 1, 2008 “Slow Healing in the Catholic Church”:
“Only when we can engage one another, unafraid of what needs to be said and must be heard, can we open the pathway to peace and reconciliation.”
It is the Pastoral Response Assistance’s Team belief that the CICA’s report will be a vehicle for dialogue and a step on this path to peace and reconciliation.
how do i join your mailing list–i am a vicim of nun abuse for 30 years
i dont have much here in Louisiana
It is , up to all of us to get to the bottom as to where, who and how most of our Catholic church problems started. You don’t have to be too bright to realize where it all started. It started in every parish. It grew in every diocese. It was approved at the Vatican years and years ago. Bad priest. Bad bishops. Failed popes. We know that. The question is, how in God’s name do we do anything about it. As I stated above, you don’t have to be too bright, so let me offer a possible start to a solution. Recognizing that money, lots and lots of our money played a major role in all of this, let that be our starting point. I have started to contribute just a DIME in the collection basket. That DIME could be a start in stopping the flow of millions of dollars in the unaccountable hands of our bishops.Obviously, just my DIME can’t possible do it. Millions of DIMES from Millions of concerned Catholics can successfully send a message to our incompetent, unaccountable, failed leadership. There is NO other way. Talk will not do it. Leaving your church, yes,it is your church, will not do it, MONEY WILL. The lack of money for ou bishops to control, will do it. Just don’t be a sucker for your bishops charge, that the poor will suffer. Church employees will have to be laid of. BS> How much concern for the poor have the bishop’s shown for the use of BILLIONS of dollars of church money to secretly protect abusive priests and their own butts. It has not cost them one minute of sleep. BUT, when they see DIMES coming in instead of dollars, they just might begin to understand that their is a failure to communicate. If you agree with me, pass it on, if not, keep being financially abused and be a part of the problem. DQ.
Any possibility the priest’s murder in Chatham, NJ, is connected to the Newark Diocese problems??
The janitor angle needs more explication..