In church abuse crisis, some call for ‘restorative justice’

WHEELING (WV)
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

By Peter Smoth

March 15, 2020

In a Wheeling University room normally used for musical recitals, groups of Catholics sat in small circles, each with a single lit candle in the middle, and took turns discussing their struggles to remain Catholic in an era defined by scandal.

“As a parent of four children, and a health-care provider for children, I am just unable to comprehend how an organization would not protect vulnerable people, especially one that professes to have a moral authority,” one man said. And when that authority “starts unraveling, I have a lot of questions. What else am I believing that you tell me? Why should I believe you anymore?”

The exercise was a model for what’s known as “healing circles,” used as a tool for what’s known as “restorative justice,” and the aim of the conference was to promote its use in area parishes.

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