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  • Writer's pictureProfiles in Catholicism
    • Oct 13, 2020
    • 23 min read

Healing from Clerical Abuse of Minors

Updated: Oct 19, 2020



A Message from the President

To the readers of Profiles in Catholicism: Thank you for taking the time to read this important edition about Healing the Wounds Caused by Clergy Abuse of Minors. I am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse by clergy. Personally, it has been a joy to collaborate with Father Hans Zollner, S.J., Gordon Nary, our editor, and Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D.. In my opinion, a survivor of clergy abuse, working side-by-side in the spirit of healing and reconciliation, with a priest and faithful lay Catholics is a model for healing individual abuse survivors and their families, and our church overall.

Knowing the abuse can cause terrible disruption in family relationships, I share two deeply personal stories of healing and reconciliation within my own family. I share those stories with you so you may know that healing from abuse, with God’s grace, is not only possible, it is in fact happening each and every day. Additionally, several survivors from across our Church wished to share their stories of resilience, hope, and healing. Also, please note The Survivor’s Roundtable. Several survivors of abuse answer the question, “What Does Healing From Abuse Look Like for Me?”. When you read this edition, I ask you to acknowledge and respect the personal heroic courage it took for survivors to express themselves.

Thank you for hearing the voices of survivors of clergy abuse.

Mike Hoffman President, Profiles in Catholicism

A Message from the Editor

In this issue of Profiles in Catholicism, we are primarily focusing on one topic -

Healing the Wounds Caused by Clergy Abuse of Minors. This has been done in preparation for our plans to launch a new publication next year titled Healing the Wounds Caused by Clergy Abuse of Minors.

However, in addition to our special focus on clergy abuse, we also feature our regular general reports on the diverse topics that we address in each issue

This will be an interfaith publication with a global focus. We will be

Interviewing survivors of clergy abuse, their caregivers, and advocates from multiple faiths and countries and featuring a comprehensive selection of general and medical articles on the healing process, We will have an advisory committee from various faiths and disciplines to help direct this landmark publication.

Healing is a lifetime process and can be enhanced by the healing stories and reflections of others who have shared similar trauma. We can all help each other to heal and there are many thousands of people whom I hope we can help heal globally.

The date, scope, and success of this project will depend on donations to cover the costs and distribution of this project. Donations can be made online or by mail. Here are the instructions for making donations.

We are seeking volunteers to serve on our Financial Committee to help us with grant writing and funding requests and for our Service Committee to help locate caregivers and survivors in various countries. By joining one of our committees you will have a profound influence on many globally who have been harmed by clerical sexual abuse, For further information, contact gnary@catholicprofiles.org

All of our interviews in this issue are with survivors of sexual abuse and those who care for them and provide leadership in addressing this challenge. Our book reviews and other reviews are also limited to healing challenges, We will continue to have all future issue of Profiles in Catholicism follow our standard format

by Gordon Nary Editor, Profiles in Catholicism

​Prayers

A Prayer for Healing Victims of Abuse

God of endless love, ever caring, ever strong, always present, always just: You gave your only Son to save us by his blood on the cross.

Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace, join to your own suffering the pain of all who have been hurt in body, mind, and spirit by those who betrayed the trust placed in them.

Hear the cries of our brothers and sisters who have been gravely harmed, and the cries of those who love them. Soothe their restless hearts with hope, steady their shaken spirits with faith.

Grant them justice for their cause, enlightened by your truth. Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts, heal your people’s wounds and transform brokenness into wholeness.

Grant us the courage and wisdom, humility and grace, to act with justice. Breathe wisdom into our prayers and labors. Grant that all harmed by abuse may find peace in justice. We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. by The Paulist Center


A Prayer for Healing


Strengthen me, Holy One, on my journey through illness; Steady my steps on this difficult path. Bring me through signposts of remedies and therapies, Secure in Your guidance as I face these changes You are my Strength and my Hope, The Author of my healing. You are my Promise and my Courage, Guiding my helpers as I move toward healing. Guard the encouragement of simple improvements, Every day praising Your loving concern. Make me Your partner, Divine Physician, Restoring me for Your Name’s sake. From Flames to Heaven: New Psalms for Healing and Praise


Peace and justice are the gifts of heaven and we pray Lord Jesus that

the cruel and unjust deaths of your servants and friends

Luzviminda Dayanda and Albert Orlina may bring about that gift

to the people of Arby,

They were falsely accused as you were Jesus, murdered as you were

Lord for taking a stand for human rights, love of the people, and justice for all.

Give them justice by inspiring the people of Alba to work for freedom, justice, truth, and peace.

Amen by Father Shay Cullen Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer for the People in India with Covid-19

Loving Father, God of Mercy, you have given us your only Begotten Son as our Redeemer and Savior, who shared with us your tangible loving concern for us your Adopted Children. In all our needs you are there to help us, to guide us, protect us. Your own Son was instrumental to bring Healing, Consolation, Life, and Source of Hope and Confidence to many in this World. “Ask, and you will Receive”, so saying He gave us the Assurance that whatever we ask YOU, You will Grant us without Fail.

At this critical moment of a Global Disaster, the daily wide-spreading COVID-19 Pandemic, by which Millions of people are suffering, starving, and dying in all Countries, our only Hope is in You. It is You alone who can take away this terrible Epidemics from the Face of the Earth, completely and once and for all. Save us, give us Faith, Hope, and Confidence in You, and lead us to the Shores of Safety and Security. Through the Precious Blood of Your Son, send us the Holy Spirit to cleanse the World from all its impurities and imperfections, and take away this deadly Virus from our midst forever.

Mary, Mother of Help, Compassionate and Loving Mother, you were by the side of your Son at Cana to understand the people’s need and, unasked, to make your Son do His First Miracle. We are now in a great need of such a Miracle from you and your Son, to crush the pangs of the Deadly Killer Corona. We pray to you for this particular Intention for the whole World and particularly for the poor Country INDIA as well as the most affected section of the Rural Population in our own State and this Particular Area of our Charity Services. We ask this Favor in the Name of the Holy Trinity, and you Our Loving Mother. Amen. by Father Stephen Nadakuzhackal Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer for Migrants and Refugees

Good and Gracious God,

We place before you a prayer from deep in our hearts. The leader of our flock, Pope Francis, marked the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, on Sunday, September 27, asking the world to beseech you, dear Lord, as they had to flee their homes after a deadly week in seeking entry into Europe.

Over 200 drowned in the Mediterranean, dear God, your beloved Pope Francis, spoke to us during the Angelus and called and included a special greeting to the migrants and refugees who stood before the "Angels Unaware" statute in St. Peter's Square.

Please bless the repose of their souls and give comfort to their families who are left behind. Bless all of us who mourn for them deeply and hope at some time we will realize this home belongs to all. We ask you this through your Son, Jesus Christ. by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

A Quote to Remember

“The term dissociation is ordinarily used to describe the phenomenon of compartmentalization or fragmentation of mental contents. It does not ascribe any particular mechanism by which the dissociative process occurs. Does dissociation occur as a result of automatic, nonconscious processes, or are there other specific mechanisms by which it occurs? Especially in the context of describing amnesia, the term repression is widely used in connection with several different mechanisms. As it is commonly used, it often implies how individuals may block our memories of uncomfortable or conflictual experiences. If done consciously, the mechanism is more accurately called suppression, which results from actively trying not to think about negative experiences.” by James A. Chu, Rebuilding Shattered Lives: Treating Complex PTSD and Dissociative Disorders

Prayer for Covid 19 Patients

Oh, Lord, we pray for all

who are suffering from Covid 19.

This pandemic has disproportionally attacked

people of color, the poor and the needy.

It has also attacked our national leaders

including the President and the First Lady.

We pray for all who are suffering from this

dreadful disease, that they may be well

and survive this plague.

Oh Lord, may you be with them

in their hour of need.

May better treatments and proven vaccines

be developed and help to save the lives

of so many of our fellow Americans.

Amen by Dr. Eugene Fisher Profiles in Catholicism

A Prayer for Anthony Adams

Lord, please be compassionate and welcome Anthony Adams into your loving embrace. When psychological pain becomes unbearable to some that they end their life, it is wrong for us to judge.

Also, give his mother Leticia the strength to bear her incomprehensible loss.

by Gordon Nary Profiles in Catholicism

Dear Lord,

Beirut Catholic Schools are in a crisis, we need your assistance in helping all who are concerned about the schools to find the best way to serve you. Help the students and faculty to keep you on their minds as their school gets rebuilt. Help all who will construct the schools to realize that the next generation is being served by this construction. We ask you this in the name of the Father, Your Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen

by Eileen Quinn Knight, Ph.D. Profiles in Catholicism

Interviews

Survivors Roundtable Discussion

Video

A discussion with Father Greg Sakowicz with Victims of Sexual Abuse and A Mass of Healing


Reading of Testimony by a Survivor by Chaplain Joe Johns


Healing General Articles/Commentaries

Healing Medical Journal Articles/Commentaries

General Articles/Commentaries on Abuse of Minors

Featured Report

General Articles/Commentaries on the Other Topics That We Address

Featured Report

Featured Report

Saints Who Have Suffered Sexual Abuse

Please support one of our organizations, colleagues, and friends who need help

  • Please send a donation to help save the life of my close friend Alwin Rex in India. Please read the article How do we love our neighbor as ourselves? and send a donation of $10.00 or more to help cover his healthcare costs to PayPal link: https://www.paypal.me/AlwinRex Thank you Gordon Nary Editor, Profiles in Catholicism

  • Please help Francis Otieno care for children affected by HIV/AIDS in Africa who is also starving. He desperately needs your donations. Thank you Gordon Nary Editor, Profiles in Catholicism

  • Donation request for mentally retarded children in India When Children are Set Free by Father Shay Cullen Preda Foundation Father Shay Cullen established The Preda Foundation in Olongapo City in 1974 and has been rescuing enslaved children and women from sex slavery and children from jails. He has been nominated four times for the Nobel Peace Prize and received other human rights awards.

  • Saikou Kambi, a 7-year-old boy in The Gambia who fell from a mango tree, was seriously injured and later died. We hope that some of our readers will make a donation to cover his medical expense. Donations should be sent to Heidi Troyer via PayPal to her email address-heiditroyercrossclub16@gmail.com. She will foreword it on it on to Saikou’s pastor, and funds donated that exceed his medical expenses will go to help support his family

Book Reviews/Commentaries

Film Reviews/Commentaries

Remembering Those Who Have Passed

Feasting with the Saints

Videos

Rosary for Healing and Protection

How to begin the healing process after child sexual abuse


Clergy sexual abuse survivor talks about his healing


How Childhood Sexual Assault Survivors Turned Trauma Into Art - Forum@360


Creating a safe Catholic Church with Fr Hans Zollner SJ

Interview with Fr. Hans Zollner SJ at Forum for Child Dignity in the Digital World

NYPD Memorial Mass Remembers Officers Lost to COVID


Survivor Testimony: Escaping the Auschwitz Gas Chambers - Rachel Gleitman


Depression & Child Sexual Abuse | Dr Rosaleen McElvaney

Clerical sex abuse victim's healing road


Healing from Clergy Sexual Abuse

Goals for Integrating Faith with Recovery from Child Sexual Abuse


Pope to Help Heal Wounds From Clergy Sex Abuse

Millions of children face starvation in Yemen warns United Nations - BBC News

Starving in Philippines' Coronavirus Lockdown: A 16-Year-Old's Story

The Joy of Feeding Hungry Children

Missionaries with Heart - 6/26/20


A Catholic Theologian Discusses Islam

The Maltese Bishops meet members of Christians Together in Malta

3 HOURS Healing Gregorian Chant 432Hz | Bendictus | Powerfull music for healing body mind and spirit

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