BishopAccountability.org
	Davenport Diocese Erects Monument to Abuse Victims By Barb Arland-Fye Catholic News Service [Davenport IA] July 6, 2005 DAVENPORT, Iowa (CNS) -- In an effort to promote healing, the Diocese of Davenport has dedicated a monument to victims of clergy sexual abuse. About 50 people, including abuse victims, gathered around the modest monument, called the Millstone Marker, outside diocesan headquarters June 20 for a solemn dedication ceremony of prayers, Scripture readings, songs, blessings and bagpipe music. Standing beside the millstone that is the monument's centerpiece, Davenport Bishop William E. Franklin said the object could be used in two ways -- it could be helpful or harmful. He explained that the original use of the millstone was helpful -- as a grinding mechanism used in food production. But, he noted, the stone could also be harmful if it were removed from its support structure and dropped on someone. He applied that analogy to priests who took a vocation meant to be helpful and turned it into something harmful when they sexually abused people. "Young people have been hurt by those who should have known better" -- priests who misused their vocation to hurt and to wound rather than to teach, help and instill faith, Bishop Franklin said. "For that, we are truly sorry," and for actions the diocese failed to take to respond to victims, he continued. Bishop Franklin asked for God's strength in bringing about forgiveness and reiterated the diocese's commitment to do everything possible to ensure that sexual abuse of children by clergy will never happen again. The creation of the Millstone Marker follows a $9 million settlement the diocese reached last October with 37 individuals for clergy sexual abuse claims and lawsuits. Erecting the monument was part of the nonmonetary portion of the settlement. Victims specifically asked for a millstone monument, engraved with a corresponding Scripture verse drawn from chapter 18 of the Gospel of Matthew: "If anyone causes one of these little ones who trust in me to lose faith, it would be better for that person to be thrown into the sea with a large millstone tied around the neck." That quote is engraved in the granite slab on which the monument is erected, along with another verse, "Jesus said: Come to me all you who labor and are heavily burdened and I will refresh you," from chapter 11 of Matthew. Beneath the verse is this message: "This millstone is dedicated to victims of sexual abuse in the Diocese of Davenport and everywhere as a tribute to their survival, a mark of our deep respect and as a symbol of our commitment to their healing." Reaction to the ceremony among those present varied. Bob and Lois Hughes appreciated the dedication and blessing, along with the monument itself. The bishop "asked for forgiveness, he accepted blame on behalf of the bishops and clergy," Bob Hughes said. "I thought it was very fitting." "This event could have been an incredibly healing process," said Ann Green, whose husband, Don, was a victim of clergy sexual abuse as a child. But she expressed disappointment that no victims were involved in the process for creating a monument, and she said victims did not get much advance notice about the dedication ceremony. She also noted that many of the diocese's priests were absent because they were participating in a golf outing elsewhere in the diocese. Abuse victims asked the diocese to create the monument, and did not ask to do it themselves, said Kathy Bush, a member of the diocese's corporate board. "It is a genuine expression of what we heard from victims," she told The Catholic Messenger, Davenport's diocesan newspaper. "My only hope is that the victims find it meaningful because it was done with great sincerity," she added. "This is healing for me," said Rob Dudley, a victim of clergy sexual abuse. "They say they're sorry, and I believe them." He will never forget what happened to him when he was 12 and 13 in the 1960s, and he is not sure he will be able to forgive, he said. But if the monument helps one child from being harmed, he said, "then it won't be in vain."