UNITED STATES
The Garden of Roses: Stories of Abuse and Healing
Virginia Jones
Then this morning when I got on Facebook, I received an appeal from the sister of a clergy abuse survivor named Gary who I have worked with since 2007. She and her mother had not seen him nor heard from him for months. Did I know anything about him? Could I look for him?
The answer is I have not heard from him or seen him in months but of course I will go look for him.
You know, I have been feeling that I was tired of working on the clergy abuse issue because lots of people have taken my help and not given back and have not acknowledged what I have done. There are many good people doing good things in the Catholic Church, but too many in leadership would rather keep the issue quiet and too many parishioners have feet of clay. However, just because the Church has failed as a whole to adequately care for survivors and, truthfully, parishes wounded by abuse, it does not mean that the good done by Catholic supported homeless shelters or soup kitchens or just plain ordinary support given to families or elderly parishioners or support for social justice issues is invalid. It is valid. I respect the Church for all the good it has done.
But I am tired of trying to help heal a Church that thinks it knows everything and does’t want healing.
I also hold clergy abuse survivors accountable too because many people who are healed enough to change things are stuck in a mind set that only one way works — lawsuits and demonstrating in front of churches.
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