UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast
Joelle Casteix
While Pope Francis has a glowing reputation for his progressive views on LGBT issues and poverty, he has done nothing for victims of abuse from within the church—like me.
When I told people that I was going to New York for the Papal visit, those who know me understood that I’m not coming for mass, a blessing, or a chance to see the wildly popular pope.
I’m here because I am a survivor of child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church.
From the ages of 15 to 17, I was sexually abused by my choir teacher at a large Catholic high school in southern California. By the time the abuse ended, I was 17, pregnant, and had a sexually transmitted disease. Even worse: school and church officials knew about my abuser and knew he had other victims. But they did nothing to stop him or help us. In fact, they let him resign with a glowing letter of recommendation.
I suffered the fate of many survivors. I was blamed. I lost my friends and my family. I stayed silent for 15 years because I was ashamed and alone.
But in 2003, I was able to use the civil courts to expose my abuser and uncover more than 200 pages of then-secret documents about my case. They included a signed confession by my abuser, signed documents from school officials, and a letters to and from the diocese on how to keep the matter “quiet.”
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