(NY)
The Tablet [Diocese of Brooklyn NY]
October 30, 2025
By Paula Katinas
BATH BEACH — Gene Doyle is a survivor of clergy sex abuse decades ago. However, throughout all that time since, he has never lost his faith in God and never left the Catholic Church.
“Through all the abuse that I went through, it never really alienated me from liturgy. That’s been a constant,” Doyle explained. “I knew enough to not confuse pathology with theology. The priests who abused me … had their own wounds.
“We all bleed in different ways.”
So, when the Diocese of Brooklyn offered its annual Mass of Hope and Healing for survivors of clergy sex abuse on Oct. 29, Doyle was there, sitting in a front pew of St. Finbar Church in Bath Beach with his wife Mary beside him.
[PHOTO: Survivor Gene Doyle, praying after the Mass, says he is pleased that the Catholic Church is facing up to issues like clergy sex abuse. (Photos: Paula Katinas)]
The Mass, which was celebrated by Bishop Robert Brennan, has been offered every year in the diocese since 2015, except in 2020 and 2021, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is meant to send an essential message to clergy sex abuse survivors that the diocese stands with them, Bishop Brennan said.
“I believe that’s true, not just my personal presence, but really the presence of so many here,” he explained. “It does send a message … of solidarity. And even sorrow.”
The evening not only acknowledged the courage of sex abuse survivors who have already come forward, but it was meant to raise awareness that the diocese is there to help anyone now, said Maryellen Quinn, director of the diocese’s Office for the Protection of Children and Young People.
Quinn explained that members of the diocese’s Healing Intervention Team — a group made up of volunteers — were there to speak privately after the Mass if anybody wanted to “go speak to them, to give us information, to just have someone to listen to.”
Wearing a badge identifying him as a member of the Healing Intervention Team, Deacon Carlos Garcia noted that he has observed in recent years that people have become more open to the idea of seeking help.
“We’ve been doing these types of Masses now for a little while, so I think it’s been more common for people to come forward,” explained Deacon Garcia, who serves at St. Michael-St. Malachy Parish in East New York. “Everybody deals with the trauma differently.”
Deacon Garcia and another team member, Deacon Jaime Cobham, said they were there to help in any way they could, be it by describing the services the diocese offers or simply by listening.
“One of the things that we are concerned about is the victims and the impact on them, God’s people,” said Deacon Cobham, who serves at St. Athanasius-St. Dominic Parish in Bensonhurst. “Many times, it’s not just victims, but people, [just] by hearing the news, get very upset.”
[PHOTO: The Mass drew many of the faithful to St. Finbar Church, where, scattered throughout the church pews, were members of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s Healing Intervention Team who are there to provide assistance to any survivor seeking help.]
In addition to the Mass of Hope and Healing, the diocese serves the survivor community in other ways, including operating a zero-tolerance policy toward abuse, conducting background checks of all employees and volunteers who work with children in churches and in church programs, offering survivors free counseling, and operating a telephone hotline for people to report suspected cases of abuse.
Offering a reflection during the Mass, Father Jeffry Dillon, a survivor, told the faithful that the journey to hope and healing isn’t easy, but worth it.
“I know in my own life, things changed when I owned up that abuse was part of my journey,” he said. “When I could do that, then I could decide not to allow it to define me, not allow it to control or limit me.”
For Father Doyle, part of his healing journey included forgiving the priest who was the first to abuse him many years ago.
A few years ago, he wrote him a letter, “essentially saying, I forgave him and how much it affected me, but also that I wanted to let him know that this is something he can let go of as well,” he said.
Anyone who is a victim of sexual abuse within the diocese is encouraged to call the confidential reporting line (888-634-4499), which connects directly to law enforcement authorities.
For information on how the diocese is dealing with clergy sex abuse, visit the website of the Office of Safe Environment and “Protecting our Children” on the Diocese of Brooklyn’s website.