Can Justice Heal Scars of Sexual Abuse by a Priest?

By Nancy Eshelman
PennLive
April 7, 2018

http://www.pennlive.com/news/2018/04/abuse_clergy_nancy_eshelman.html

Cathedral.jpg The Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament in downtown Altoona, Pa. was the site of priest abuse detailed in a Grand Jury investigation made public in 2016. Sources say another grand jury investigation into sexual abuse by clergy in six other diocese is nearing its end.Mark Pynes | mpynes@pennlive.com(PAHAP)

Nothing damages a child more than betrayal of trust.

Failure by a person who is supposed to love and/or protect the child leaves lifelong scars.

Knowing that, it is painful to read that a state grand jury is poised to deliver "the worst report ever" on child abuse in the Catholic Church in six dioceses, including Harrisburg.

State Rep. Mark Rozzi, D-Berks, who counts himself as a survivor of clergy abuse, said the grand jury had no trouble finding witnesses to testify. His hope is that the report will prompt the Legislature to pass laws allowing victims to get justice despite the passage of time.

"It's going to continue to shed light on the need to eliminate the statute of limitations and give all these victims a voice and access to justice," said Jennifer Storm, the state victim advocate.

I wonder, as I read this, if justice can heal those life-long scars. The sense of betrayal has to cut so deep that it must be almost impossible to repair.

As someone who grew up in the Catholic Church and in a different time, it is easy to envision how the abuse happened.

When we were young, we were free. Free to roam, to spend the day with friends, without the constant parental supervision so common today.

Couple that with an extreme reverence for priests, and you whip up a recipe for disaster.

When we were in school, we were subject to the nuns in all things. They told us when to eat, when to pray, when to go to church, how to stand in a line. They formed our attitudes.

And here's the thing: every line was the same. Boys before girls. Getting on the bus, going to the cafeteria, walking on the street, always the boys first.

Why? I can only assume it was because only a boy could someday be a priest. It's a church rule that hasn't changed to this day.

Priests were a small step below God. At least that's how the nuns treated them. Since the nuns made the rules, that's how we treated them too.

So as a second-class citizen in a Catholic school, I could understand why a boy, any boy, would have been honored by any special attention paid to him by a priest.

When I think of it now, it sickens me.

But then, way, way back then, we didn't have those thoughts. Not ever.

If there was child abuse - and there was - we didn't talk about it. We'd never heard about it. It was an innocent time.

No one told us about good touches and bad touches or taking candy from a stranger. We simply were unaware.

That's why the impending grand jury report sickens me so. These could have been my classmates, young boys living in an innocent time.

For any child to have his innocence betrayed by someone so revered must have been horrifying. Although it's politically correct to call them survivors, not victims, I wonder if the damage inflicted on them can ever be undone.