PARRAMATTA (NEW SOUTH WALES, AUSTRALIA)
Catholic Outlook – Diocese of Parramatta
June 1, 2020
Almost 500 people from 70 countries registered for a webinar sponsored by the International Safeguarding Conference on the theme “A Safer Church” on Friday, 29 May.
Hundreds of people predominantly from North and South America registered to join the International Safeguarding Conference (ICS) online on Friday. They represented 70 countries, making it an international webinar.
This was the first in a series of webinars on the theme “A Safer Church.” Participants heard the experiences of five people who reflected on Safeguarding during COVID-19 from a victim’s perspective.
*
Child Protection Consultant Barbara Thorpe spoke from the perspective of those who have been grappling for years with abuse suffered at the hands of clergy in the Church.
She shared a letter from one survivor who described the conditions of being in rehabilitation, which is very similar to the lockdown we have been experiencing due to COVID-19. We now have a glimpse of their experience. Yet their experience was silenced and they have had to deal with the consequences in isolation.
Barbara said that these survivors possess a “wisdom” that can now help us deal with the residual effects of our own experiences of being locked down. She encouraged those safeguarding professionals present not to let the lockdown impede their efforts but that it be an impetus to discover new opportunities to open their hearts to “listen to them, to honour their stories and to seek renewed trust on the path of healing.”
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.