For the first time, an international meeting of bishops’ representatives heard testimony from a survivor of sexual abuse by a member of the Catholic clergy. The testimony was part of an effort to help clerics be more aware of the impact of abuse and how the church can better help victims. The Anglophone Conference on the Safeguarding of Children, Young People and Vulnerable Adults has been meeting since 1996, and this year organizers invited an Irish survivor of abuse, Colm O’Gordon, to speak before the conference. Teresa Kettelkamp [pictured], head of the U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Child and Youth Protection, said it was critical for church representatives from countries where the abuse problem has not yet been fully addressed to hear directly from a victim. She said, “We can always learn more of how we can better help victims-survivors heal and find reconciliation, but actually hearing directly from them and the impact the abuse had on them is always very powerful.” The conference met in Rome from May 30 to June 3.
A Voice for Survivors
Show Comments (
)
Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.
The latest from america
I use a motorized wheelchair and communication device because of my disability, cerebral palsy. Parishes were not prepared to accommodate my needs nor were they always willing to recognize my abilities.
Age and its relationship to stardom is the animating subject of “Sunset Blvd,” “Tammy Faye” and “Death Becomes Her.”
What separates “Bonhoeffer” from the myriad instructive Holocaust biographies and melodramas is its timing.
“Wicked” arrives on a whirlwind of eager (and anxious) anticipation among fans of the musical.