UNITED STATES
The Jewish Chronicle
by Toby Tabachnick, Staff Writer The Jewish Chronicle
In 1985, after discovering that her three children were being sexually abused by an uncle, Denise instinctively turned to her priest for help and guidance.
But he did not know what to do.
“He told me they didn’t deal with that kind of thing, and that [my children] would have to see a psychiatrist,” she recalled. “The priest came out and said there was nothing he could do.”
Denise, whose last name is withheld here to protect her privacy, had an experience that is more common than one might think. Members of the clergy—including rabbis — typically are not trained in how to counsel victims of child abuse or their parents. And yet, it is the clergy that is often called on as the first responders by people of faith.
About 17 female interfaith clergy members gathered at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, Monday, Nov. 5, for the workshop titled “Child Sexual Abuse and Neglect: What they didn’t teach in seminary.” The workshop, organized by the Pittsburgh chapter of Jewish Women International in conjunction with several co-sponsors, is the second in a series of domestic violence prevention programs for female clergy, intending to fill a gap in their pastoral education.
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