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Edited on Tue Apr-15-08 05:27 PM by Breeze54
For many victims of clergy abuse, the scars are now burninghttp://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2008/04/14/for_many_victims_of_clergy_abuse_the_scars_are_now_burning/ By Michael Levenson Globe Staff / April 14, 2008 When Pope John Paul II celebrated Mass on Boston Common on Oct. 1, 1979, Robert Costello was there. He was 18, president of the Catholic Youth Organization at St. Theresa of Avila parish in West Roxbury, and a freshman at Boston College. Praying in the rain with 400,000 believers, he watched as his friend, who was dying of cancer, took Communion from the pope's hand. Now, almost 29 years later, Costello is anticipating another pope's visit. Only this time, he is going to protest, not pray. A victim of sexual abuse by a priest who was supposed to teach his Boy Scout troop to swim, Costello will travel from Boston to New York City Friday to read aloud the names of fellow victims, while Benedict XVI addresses the United Nations.
"I don't owe him the courtesy of kissing his ring, because they certainly didn't do me the courtesy of stopping this abuse when it happened," said Costello, a 46-year-old Norwood resident who, in 1989, came to terms with the abuse he said he suffered between the ages of 10 and 14.
For many victims of clergy sexual abuse, Benedict's visit to New York and Washington revives the rage, powerlessness, and despair of having had their faith broken and their abuse unacknowledged for decades. Many say the pope has not done enough to prevent abuse and that it is still occurring. They see Benedict's decision to bypass Boston, the epicenter of the crisis, as willful disregard for the problem.
"It's just the sort of thing where I hear about it, and I turn away in disgust," said Peter Pollard, 56, who said he was molested in the 1960s by a priest in Marblehead and who works for an organization in Amherst dedicated to stopping abuse.
"It's not something I have interest in or want to have interest in. I feel pretty dismissive and disdainful of the pope and his office and his past behavior."Some Catholics, however, hope that Benedict's visit will inaugurate an era of openness between victims and the Vatican. Archbishop Pietro Sambi, the pope's US ambassador, has told USA Today that Benedict plans to address the abuse crisis several times. Sambi has also told the National Catholic Reporter that a meeting with victims is "within the field of possibility, but I cannot confirm anything." The main national organization representing victims, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, has heard nothing from the Vatican or its representatives, despite requesting a meeting with the pope, according to its national director, David Clohessy. "He has a huge opportunity here, and if he misses that opportunity, he will not get it back," said Gary M. Bergeron, a Salem, N.H., resident whose book, "Don't Call Me A Victim," chronicles the alleged sexual abuse by priests of his father, his brother, and himself. Bergeron, his father, and another victim sought unsuccessfully to tell their stories to John Paul II at the Vatican in 2003.Continued... RELATED * Pope likely to address abuse http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/04/14/pope_likely_to_address_abuse * Opponents of parish closings see opportunity |
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