CHICAGO (IL)
Archdiocese of Chicago IL
October 18, 2023
Church of the Holy Family will host the Mass on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023 at 10 a.m.
The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Assistance Ministry will hold its 12th Annual Hope and Healing Mass at 10 a.m., on Saturday, Oct. 21, 2023, at Church of the Holy Family, 1080 W. Roosevelt Rd. in Chicago. (editor’s note: to protect the privacy of victim-survivors who will attend the Mass, media are asked to not film or photograph their faces).
“From my earliest days as a bishop, I have been committed to putting the victims at the center of my ministry and I will continue to apply the highest level of vigilance to these efforts and to further strengthen our safeguards against abuse,” said Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago. “On behalf of the archdiocese, survivors of clergy sexual abuse will forever be in our prayers, and we have dedicated ourselves to rooting out this problem and providing healing to victims.”
Most Rev. Jeffrey Grob, auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Chicago, will serve as the main celebrant. Mayra Flores, director of the Office of Assistance Ministry and coordinator of the Safe Environment Office for the archdiocese, and Michael Hoffman, chairman of the archdiocese’s Hope and Healing Committee, victim-survivor and parishioner of Chicago’s St. Mary of the Woods Parish, will participate in the Mass. Jim Richter, member of the archdiocese’s Hope and Healing Committee, will offer a reflection after Holy Communion. Dennis Smith, music director of St. Simon of Cyrene Parish in Chicago, will provide music for the liturgy.
The healing Mass comes at a historical time in the Church. A month-long meeting on the Synod on Synodality, a three-year process of listening and dialogue designed to consider the future of the universal Church, was convened Oct. 4 in Rome by Pope Francis. The week preceding the start of the gathering, the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors issued an unprecedented statement urging synod participants to stand in “solidarity with victims and survivors in light of ongoing revelations of abuse” and to give the topic of safeguarding priority in this month’s discussions. “The reality of sexual abuse in our Church goes to the heart of the Synod’s agenda,” the statement said.
As stated in the Archdiocese of Chicago’s synod report, “As the Church moves into the future, it must take up the double task of healing and prevention. The healing outreach to those who have suffered abuse must be a priority for the Church. That healing extends beyond those directly abused but to the entire Church that has suffered so greatly. People are also looking for assurance that the Church is doing whatever is possible to prevent abuse in the future.”
The Mass for Hope and Healing is an effort to meet those needs voiced by the faithful. “True accompaniment, heartfelt healing, and restoration of one’s dignity can occur when we ask individual survivors of abuse to tell us what they need for their own healing process,” said Hoffman. “On the surface, it may seem improbable, yet the remarkable truth is this liturgy is planned by survivors of clerical abuse, for survivors of abuse and their families. Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, Francis Cardinal George and Cardinal Blase Cupich have listened to survivors, and taken their stories to heart. I’m grateful for their long-standing support for the on-going outreach efforts with clergy abuse survivors.”
The Mass for Hope and Healing was first held in 2011 when victim-survivors requested a special Mass so they could support one another and reconcile their experiences with their desire to be part of a Catholic faith community. Each year, victim-survivors collaborate with clergy and staff to plan the liturgy. Attendance has grown to include clergy, victim-survivors of clergy sexual abuse, family members and caregivers of survivors, church lay ministry staff, Catholic school leadership and many others who are committed to the protection and safety of children and youth.
The Office of Assistance Ministry, part of the archdiocese’s Office of the Protection of Children and Youth (OPCY), provides pastoral care, support and resources to victim-survivors of clerical sexual abuse, and their loved ones in their journey to achieve psychological, emotional and spiritual healing. Since its creation as one of the first victim assistance ministries in the United States, the Office of Assistance Ministry has provided services and support to more than 400 victim-survivors and their family members.
For more information on the services provided by the Office for Assistance Ministry, please visit
https://protect.archchicago.org/offices-and-services/office-of-assistance-ministry.