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	Breaking the Silence about Abuse; Collection of Poems to Be Released April 10 By Erica Bajer Chatham Daily News March 26, 2008 http://www.chathamdailynews.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=957668 An area poet put pen to paper to shed light on the suffering of women abused as children by pedophile priest Charles Sylvestre. When Angels Weep, to be released April 10, is a collection of 81 poems written by Windsor resident and former nun Mary Ann Mulhern. "It's another way of breaking the silence about this issue," she told The Chatham Daily News in a telephone interview Tuesday. Mulhern, who interviewed five of the women abused by Sylvestre, was struck by their strength and courage. And their pain. "It's really been a very powerful experience for me," she said. Sylvestre died in prison last year while serving a three-year sentence for 47 counts of indecent assault on girls in parishes in southwestern Ontario, including Chatham and Pain Court. Mulhern used words to convey what the girls went through. "The images can be so impactful and powerful," she said. Through her poems, she demonstrates how long-lasting and devastating the impact of abuse is on the women Sylvestre victimized. She also explores how the survivors were affected by Sylvestre using God and the threat of damnation during the abuse. One thing all of the survivors she spoke to questioned was the life they left behind. "Who would I have been if this had not happened?" Mulhern said they all asked. The poet said reading first-hand accounts of the abuse and its legacy in the womens' lives and speaking with some of them had a profound impact on her life. "It has to touch you," she said. Mulhern said a comment she once heard sums up how she feels about the power of poetry - that the art form helps the reader internalize the loss and grief of another. She hopes her book does that. "I felt such a sense of responsibility to them and I still do," she said of the women. They trusted her with their stories so "that I would be their voice," she said. Irene Deschenes, who was abused by Sylvestre while volunteering at St. Ursula's Church in Chatham as a young girl, said the book is very powerful. "She really understands the impact of sexual abuse by clergy," Deschenes said. "She just captured our experiences so well." Deschenes, Canadian director of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests (SNAP), said she supports work like Mulhern's, which keeps issues of abuse in the public eye. She believes anyone who has been impacted by an abuse of power will respond to the collection of poems. "I think the book will speak to a lot of people," she said. When Angels Weep, published by Black Moss Press, will be released April 10 at 7 p.m. at Katzman Lounge, Vanier Hall at the University of Windsor. It is $15.95 and a portion of the proceeds will be donated to SNAP.
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