Standing against and Healing from
Sexual Abuse and Cover-Ups
Sexual abuse and cover-ups have been a key and visible issue for Catholics for more than sixteen years. Whatever our relationship to religion, or whether or not we were raised Catholic, many of us are struggling with the recently revealed sexual abuse in the Catholic institution—of a thousand young people in Pennsylvania, USA, and of others in Australia, Ireland, and Chile. We are heartbroken. We are outraged. We are disappointed, fearful, and confused.
We have the tools we need to address these feelings. We can use our understanding of hurts and oppression. We can
- trace our feelings about sexual abuse back to early sexual memories, young people’s oppression, early deceit and betrayal, and so on;
- interrupt sexual abuse and cover-ups, which we do most effectively when we’re connected with each other;
- grieve, rage, shake—and move toward, not away from, other Catholics;
- listen to and stand with survivors;
- do the work on our early hurts that allows us to think clearly about those in oppressor roles;
- remember our own goodness and the goodness of all people and that those who do horrible things are hurt and need to discharge and heal;
- change institutional policies and practices, and end all sexual abuse and cover-ups.
We are a deeply good people who care about ending all hurt and oppression.
Feel free to write, call, or Skype me for sessions. Let’s stay connected and support each other. We are in this together!
Greenwich, Connecticut, USA
skype: jmbray
Reprinted from the e-mail discussion
list for RC Community members