Twin Cities Voice of the Faithful

SCRIPT

Welcome and Introduce Barb Stamp - Shari Steffen

Barb Stamp remarks about the role of apology in the healing process.

Begin Apology Service - Suzanne Severson

Matthew 2:18

A voice was heard in Ramah, sobbing and loudly lamenting: it was Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted because they were no more.

Rachel weeps for her children, and God weeps for his hurting children. TODAY the Catholic Church weeps for her children . . . and with her children: boys and girls, women and men, all who were betrayed and horribly harmed by spiritual leaders of the Catholic Church.

Matthew 18: 5-6

Anyone who welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But anyone who is an obstacle to bring down one of these little ones who have faith in me would be better drowned in the depths of the sea with a great millstone round his neck.

1 Corinthians 12:24-26

God has so constructed the body . . . that there may be no dissension in the body, but that all members may be concerned for one another. If one member suffers, all the members suffer with it . . .

All of us are suffering and need to reach out to heal each other so we can be whole and live fully. Girls and boys, women and men, all who were taught to trust those in authority, especially religious leaders, are hurting. Priests and nuns, brothers, monks, Catholic lay ministers and employees of the Catholic Church have violated the very sacred trust which was given them when they chose to be servants of God's people.

Those who were abused suffer lifelong harm. They carry shame and self-hatred with them into all parts of their lives. They have lost the ability to trust, to believe, to know how to give and receive love, including God's love. Their lives are complicated and inhibited by some or all of these: physical, emotional, mental, financial, spiritual, and social ill-health. Mutually beneficial relationships are difficult to form or maintain. Very understandably, most victims have walked away from all churches.

Family members of sexual abuse victims, their friends, the people with whom they work, everyone with whom they have contact suffers from the results of the harm done to these brothers and sisters. They are all victims of this abuse. So too those nuns, priests, brothers, monks, bishops, Catholic lay ministers, and employees of the Catholic Church who have faithfully and chastely served God in their daily activities now walk under a cloud of suspicion. They are victims. Our churches suffer from the sexual abuse and the cover-ups. Many who have faithfully attended the Catholic church and participated in parish life for years are traumatized by the disclosures of abuse and cover-ups. They are victims. There are many victims from these times when our leaders turned away from God. If one member hurts, all the members suffer with it.

The effects of sexual abuse reach into marriages and families even into the following generations to tear up and destroy potential and fullness of life. Unhealthy persons cannot make healthy choices. Our communities, cities, and countries also suffer from the effects of this and other abuses. Our whole world reels from anger and hatred and wars. Much of this stems from treating people in ways that don't recognize the incredible value of each person and the precious gift every individual is meant to be.

If our churches and our church leaders are not healthy and holy and pastoral, where can we turn? We can turn to our God, who weeps for us and we can turn to each other. We can weep together for the hurts and the losses. We have tremendous power to heal. Our power to heal comes from God but resides in each one of us. There are some steps we can take as church and as brothers and sisters to start the healing. The steps are:

• WELCOME
• BELIEVE
• APOLOGIZE
• HELP PROVIDE JUSTICE

Welcome. Believe. Apologize. Help provide justice.

Let's open our hearts to each other today and set about our healing.

Thank you for coming. We believe that you WERE harmed and we weep with you. We, as church and as brothers and sisters who share in the evil or good each of us experiences, are so sorry, so deeply sorry, for the damage that was done to you through no fault of your own. We ask for healing for each of us who has been sinned against by sexual abuse or by the effects of this abuse and of the failure to act justly when it was discovered.

We ask healing for individuals, for marriages, for families, for church communities, for the entire holy body that we form when we are united, the holy body that has been torn apart by abuse and deceit. This body is the Body of Christ as He intended us to be. Whether we can continue in the practice of Catholicism anymore is not what we are about here today. Healing is what is necessary and desired today . . . the beginnings of healing and of understanding each other and ministering to each other.

Any victims, family members of victims, friends of victims, any of those women and men religious or priests who have been true to their vows and have suffered due to the wrongdoing of others, or churchgoers who have been traumatized by the revelations in the recent years and who wish to receive an apology can go to any one of the apologizers who will be stationed around the room.

We have asked priests, nuns, brothers, and lay people to act as apologizers. Although they did not perpetrate harm on anyone, they are willing to speak as members of the Church in which the harm and betrayal was done. The apologizers will introduce themselves briefly so you will know a little about the person you choose to approach.

Shari Steffen calls apologizers forward one at a time to give their short self-introduction and then take their positions around the room. Frank Maixner will direct them to their positions.

NOTE TO APOLOGIZERS: For your self-introduction, please tell your name and affiliation, and a short statement of why you agreed to serve as an apologizer at this service.

Shari reads the rest of the lead-in to the apologies:

You may come forward for an apology now. Expect this apology to begin to move anger and disappointment out of your hearts and lives and to replace these emotions with hope and healing. This is just a first step in healing but it is an important one.

Please come forward when you're ready. Say whatever you would like to the apologizer - you can tell your story if you are comfortable doing that. You need not come forward - you may sit and be witness to the healing in this space, you may pray, or you may leave - whatever is comfortable for you.