Church in
Crisis On
Good Friday, protesters pray for victims of sex abuse
By CHUCK COLBERT
Boston
The Boston archdiocese has experienced a Lent and Triduum like no
other. A variety of Catholic viewpoints converged at the Cathedral of the Holy
Cross in Bostons South End neighborhood on Good Friday and again on
Easter Sunday. Inside, Cardinal Bernard Law, spiritual head of the
nations fourth largest diocese, prayed for the victims of clergy sex
abuse and pledged to restore trust among the faithful.
Those themes were spoken about in churches and cathedrals
throughout the country as U.S. Catholics moved through Lent bearing the shame
of the scandal that has rocked the church. The cardinal presided over a Good
Friday midday prayer service that included readings of the Last Seven Words of
Christ. To recall Christs suffering, Law carried a large wooden cross
down the center isle of the cruciform neo-Gothic structure.
Outside on Friday, Catholics displayed a mixture of prayerfulness
and protest as hundreds celebrated the Good Friday Passion of Christ from a
different perspective -- that of support of and solidarity with the victims of
clerical sexual molestation.
As the public prayer and protest organizers assembled in front of
the cathedral, Laws spokeswoman Donna M. Morrissey said, Im
observing and taking this all in. She added, They certainly have a
right to be here.
History in the making
One priest urged the laity on the outside to come inside to pray.
Few did. Most opted to remain in the fresh spring air, under bright and sunny
New England skies, as temperatures climbed in the 50s for most of the
afternoon. There was a sense of history in the making, not only for the local
church here, but also the church universal.
A founder of the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, or
SNAP, underscored the events significance. This is the first time
in [the networks] history that Catholic lay people have stood up publicly
in support of victims, said Barbara Blaine, of Chicago, an abuse
survivor, who flew to Boston for the day to address the gathering.
Your recognizing us means more to us than you will ever
know. We appreciate your being here, your caring for and embracing us,
she added.
A key focus of the lay-led prayer service of solidarity with
victims of clergy sexual abuse was the Stations of the Cross, set up
along the sidewalk on Washington Street in front of the cathedral. After each
scriptural passage for the various stations, lay presiders led prayers specific
to the station and suffering of all those affected by the scandal, especially
the victims. For instance, at the 10th station when Jesus is stripped, the
prayer focused on human vulnerability. They prayed: God of salvation,
heal our brothers and sisters who have been stripped of their dignity and
self-worth, exposed to the world in total vulnerability. Raise them up with
Christ, and restore to them their dignity as children of God.
Boston police officers estimated the crowd at 350. The
Boston Globe put the number between 350 and 400. In any event, it
was the biggest public turnout of the laity here since the scandal exploded on
the front pages of the Globe and the Boston Herald nearly
three months ago. The numbers were large enough for the faithful to nearly
encircle the cathedral for a veneration of the cross that made its rounds along
the chain of people lining the cathedrals perimeter.
Powerful witnessing
Both planners and participants spoke of the prayer service
experience as powerful and respectful. Verona Mazzei,
of Our Lady Help of Christians in Newton, Mass., who spoke to the gathering
after the service, said, It was a powerful witnessing to the
victims.
Mazzeis connection to the local scandal dates back to her
time during the 1980s and early 90s at St. John the Evangelist church in
Newton, where she directed the childrens religious education program. It
was there that Fr. Paul R. Shanley abused many boys and young men, according to
allegations from a number of victims.
This priest was in my house, Mazzei thundered from the
speakers podium, with tears running down her face. I ran the
educational program in which this mans son [Greg Ford, son of Rodney
Ford] was abused.
Greg Ford, a 24-year old, alleges that Shanley raped him and
molested numerous others during his nearly 30 years as a popular street
priest, according to the Globe. Ford, who filed a civil law suit
against Shanley in February, now has taken steps toward bringing criminal
charges against him, according to local NBC-affiliate Channel 7s recent
Night Team report.
Both print and broadcast media also reported, by midweek, that
Shanley had been serving as a volunteer with the San Diego Police
Departments senior patrol in a job that included fingerprinting children.
He was dismissed from that job.
The criminal process is now going forward, Fords
lawyer Roderick MacLeish Jr. told the Globe.
The significance of Fords charges lie in the fact that,
because Shanley left Massachusetts in 1990, the criminal statute of limitations
on Fords allegations has not yet expired. Advocates for Ford and other
victims have been calling for the archdiocese to release church documents
pertaining to Shanley.
We believe that the record should be littered with documents
that establish that before my client was raped by Paul Shanley, the archdiocese
had full knowledge about his pedophilia, MacLeish told the Associated
Press.
Although a court order forced the archdiocese to hand over
documents relevant to the Shanley case, local church officials are seeking to
halt the public release of the accused priests file.
After the prayer service when several abuse victims spoke, Mazzei
asked the crowd: Do you think that I go to bed at night without crying? I
go to bed every night thinking about the victims, every one of them, the
families, because I feel that I was part of this.
She pleaded with the gathering: Do not let these victims be
victims by themselves.
The face and voice of women who are the victims of clerical sexual
abuse began to surface locally on Good Friday. In addition to Blaines
story of sexual abuse by a priest, a Provincetown, Mass., woman came forward
with her story.
Telling how she has spent more than 30 years in hospitals
and therapy, to heal and make changes in my life, Donna Mahan said,
The effects of sexual violation are not over, they will always be a part
of my history and being.
What is encouraging she said is that So many women and men
have broken the silence of their sexual abuse by priests, something not new to
survivors, but newly heard by Catholics in the human community.
From the speakers podium Mahan went on to read a Feb. 2
entry in her journal, recalling the memories of a priests
trespassing on [her] two-year-old innocent body.
Mahan spoke of her keeping the silence as the church taught
me and the millions of believers, she said. The believers trampled
me with their belief and denial as to what was done to me and so many others.
But our truth is being spread all over Boston and all over the world.
Like Mahan, several other abuse survivors who told their stories
spoke through their fear and anger and pain. Steve Lynch, for example, sounded
a prophets note: You are about to witness the greatest resurrection
before your very eyes, he said in remarks pointed at Law and Cardinal
Edward Egan of New York.
Grief and sorrow
You will be swept away by the courage and strength of those
who are wounded. Their resurrection will be in the beauty, health and freedom
that is theirs to claim.
Arthur Austin asked some Catholics to reconsider concerns about
being polite when telling of his sexual abuse story. Why is
it too much for you to hear? No one in the church worried that it might be too
much for any victim to bear the abuse, over and over, in hopelessness, he
said. There is nothing polite about rape.
While the victims expressed anger and outrage over the way church
leaders dismissed their suffering, the overall tone on Good Friday was that of
profound grief and sorrow. Many men and women were visibly moved and saddened,
crying while listening to the victims stories.
Other voices and faces of women also began to surface in public on
Good Friday. At least four different womens religious orders -- including
sisters of Mercy, Sister of Notre Dame de Namur, the Sisters of St. Anne, and
the Sisters of St. Joseph -- were represented outside the cathedral.
They were there, they said, to show solidarity with the victims
and press for church reform. There arent even words to tell you how
many changes we need, Sr. Jon Sullivan of the Sisters of Notre Dame told
the Globe.
Not everybody held a favorable view of the outdoor prayer service.
What we are witnessing is the exploitation of a tragedy by dissident
groups with an agenda, C.J. Doyle, executive director of the
Massachusetts Catholic Action League, told the Boston Herald.
About a dozen protesters returned to the cathedral on Easter
Sunday. Despite having to pass by signs reading House of Rape,
Hold on to Your Children and Power Corrupts, Truth Heals, Law
Resign, many worshippers celebrated Mass with the cardinal presiding.
Even through we carry in our hearts those who bear the
wounds of betrayal through abuse inflicted by others, especially by clergy,
even though we experience the pain of dissent within the church, we fix our
gaze with unshakable hope on the risen Lord. He is our light, Law told
parishioners.
Freelance journalist Chuck Colbert writes from Cambridge,
Mass.
National Catholic Reporter, April 12,
2002
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