Victim/Family Support Group
Submitted by webmaster on Sun, 05/25/2008 - 13:36.New Session Starting for the Victim/Family Support Group
A new 12-week session is starting for the Goal One Victim/Family Support Group on Saturday, July 5th. The group meets every other Saturday morning. Contact facilitator Shari Steffen for more info : 952-944-1483. Click on the side bar for more information on this initiative.
More victims come forward after papal visit’s acknowledgment of sexual abuse
Submitted by webmaster on Wed, 04/23/2008 - 21:06.Pope Benedict XVI’s visit and his recognition of the problems of clerical sexual abuse have prompted many alleged sexual abuse victims to come forward, Newsday reports.
Barbara Blaine, president of the Chicago-based Survivor's Network of Those Abused by Priests said her 8,000-member organization has been "inundated" with calls. "Several are saying that they never told anyone."
"It was because the topic was addressed and for some people [who came forward] it was because they're angry," Blaine said, according to Newsday.
"Others just want to be counted."
Pope gave Catholics permission to acknowledge survivors of sex abuse by bishops, priests, religious order men and women
Submitted by webmaster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 20:20.Press Release
National Survivor Support Working Group
For Immediate Release:
Saturday, April 19, 2008
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Catholics must accept responsibility to ACT to find survivors.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Survivor Support Working Group of Voice of the Faithful urges all Catholics, lay and ordained to go to their parishes tomorrow to meet with sexual abuse survivors, apologize to them and hear their stories.
Abuse Victim Reacts To Pope's Visit
Submitted by webmaster on Mon, 04/21/2008 - 20:14.The thousands of victims who didn't get a chance to speak one-on-one with the Pope still experienced an emotional roller coaster, as they watched him address the sexual abuse scandal. One Duluth man who was abused by a priest in Proctor in 1965, said the Pope's words and actions is helping him put the abuse behind him.
"He made the first move," said Verne Wagner. "He said, 'We screwed up, not only are we ashamed of what happened, but we're ashamed of how we handled it."
Read the entire article.
Message from Kris Ward, Chair VOTF Survivor Support Working Group
Submitted by webmaster on Wed, 04/16/2008 - 15:49.I offer the following in the hope that Voice of the Faithful sees its way clear to offer a message of support to survivors, to the leaders of SNAP and Road to Recovery, and to the membership at large of Voice of the Faithful:
The Survivor Support Working Group of Voice of the Faithful extends its heartfelt concern to survivors of sexual abuse by Roman Catholic priests, religious sisters, religious brothers during the time of Pope Benedict XVI's visit to the United States.
This is, we know, both a difficult and a perilous time for you.
Sex abuse victims don't always remember all the painful details
Submitted by webmaster on Thu, 02/14/2008 - 19:15.Joe Towalski, in his editorial "Don't punish the innocent when rightly seeking justice" [Jan. 31], seems to suggest that people who have been abused but can't remember the details are less than credible. He clearly does not speak from experience.
My sister was sexually abused by a family member from early childhood to adulthood, not unlike the sex abuse victims of priests and religious, by someone she trusted and even loved. This was buried in her psyche until she was 45 years old. Fortunately, in therapy this came out and she was able to have some level of healing, though never complete. The abuser made a deathbed confession supporting this revelation.
"Cases in which memories are hazy and allegations difficult to prove" is language that could lead the reader to conclude, "If we can't prove it concretely, then let's just let it go." If a person feels that something happened, it most likely did.
VOTF Steering Council Meeting, May 15, 2008
Submitted by webmaster on Thu, 05/29/2008 - 08:10.Draft Minutes Twin Cities VOTF Steering Council Meeting, May 15, 2008 St Joan of Arc Parish Center
Present: Tim P, Shari S, Colin L, Tom G, Christina B, Jim W, Suzanne S (Minutes)
Absent : Pat W, Jim A
1. Prayer: Meeting opened with a prayer reflection on Pentecost
2. Eval of April Film Nite: People were eager to gather together for discussion; scheduling was timely given proximity to the Pope’s visit; over 40 in attendance; the depth and quality of discussion was commented on.
U.S. Bishops Accused of Abuse
Submitted by webmaster on Mon, 04/14/2008 - 20:06.UNITED STATES
Bishop Accountability
U.S. Bishops Accused of Abuse
In the sexual abuse crisis, attention has focused on priests who have
sexually abused children; the problem of bishops and major superiors who
abuse has not received systematic scrutiny. Yet a bishop who is himself
guilty of child abuse, or who has other violations of celibacy to conceal,
has compromised his role in the formation of his priests and in assigning
them properly. Bishops who sexually abuse seminarians, as Anthony J.
O'Connell has admitted doing, may establish a generational pattern of
