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	Clergy Abuse Discussed at Hingham By Molly A. K. Connors Boston Globe January 29, 2010 http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/hingham/2010/01/glastonbury_abbey.html?comments=all The anger and pain over the sexual abuse by clergy remains, but a gathering in Hingham this week showed ways that the victims and the Catholic church are taking steps to recover. About 100 people came to Glastonbury Abbey in Hingham Tuesday to learn about “The Enduring Psychological and Spiritual Effects of Clergy-Perpetrated Sexual Abuse,” at a talk co-sponsored by the Voice of the Faithful affiliate in Scituate. The event featured a panel with three speakers: Barbara Thorp, the director the Office of Pastoral Support Outreach at the Archdiocese of Boston, which assists victims with finding the help they need; Dave Nolan, a survivor of clergy abuse; and Robert McMackin, a psychologist consultant with the archdiocese. “I’d like to see this happen at every parish in the archdiocese,” said Kathy Cerruti, a Scituate resident and co-chair of the Scituate affiliate, who said she was pleased with the event’s turnout. “I’m really uplifted by a night like this,” said Thorp, who added that Boston will need a lifetime to recover from the clergy abuse crisis. “We have to, relationship by relationship ... begin to rebuild that trust,” said Thorp. One who has begun to heal, but is still in pain, is Dave Nolan, a 48-year-old Mansfield resident and abuse survivor. He said evenings that shed light on the experiences of the abused help him and others. “Knowing that I put a face on a survivor, I think that’s important work,” Nolan said. Another who said it was an important event was Kevin McKearin, a 72-year-old Quincy resident. McKearin said he doesn’t know anyone personally effected by abuse, but said it is important for people to learn more about the effects of abuse so they can better support is survivors. “It helps give them [survivors] more support and empathy,” McKearin said. Not everyone who attended found it enlightening. Ann Hagan Webb, a clergy abuse survivor who has a private practice in Norwell and is a former New England Coordinator for SNAP – Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests – said some of the research presented by McMackin could have been more up to date. “It felt a little old hat to me,” said Webb, who also said that parts of McMackin’s presentation were “very accurate.” In an interview after the presentation, Webb said clergy abuse is an ongoing problem. “It’s still more common that people want to believe,” she said. Another with mixed feelings was Stan Doherty, a Hingham resident who is a member of Call to Action, a national organization that calls for change in the Catholic church, including its hierarchy. During the question-and-answer period after the presentation, Doherty said he felt justice for abuse victims could not occur until all clergy who had been a part of the scandal were in jail. “You’ve been using a lot of euphemisms,” Doherty said. “These were also crimes,” he said, drawing applause. Even though he said is still angry about how the church handled the abuse, Doherty said the evening went well. “It’s good to talk about [it],” said Doherty, who said he has not been affected personally by abuse. Thorp said it is natural and appropriate for people this way. “The anger is understandable anger,” she said. The anger took Brother Daniel Walters by surprise. One of the 10 Benedictine monks who lives at Glastonbury Abbey, the 63-year-old Walters said he found the evening’s programming helpful and that abbey possibly should host more evenings like this. “You have to listen to people’s stories,” he said.
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