#ARESHINI PATHER HOW TO#

Sadly, the Roman Catholic Church is not the only religious institution with a history of collusion.

Some of these survivors and abusers are lost to the history of collusion that is the hallmark of the Roman Catholic Church. They make it clear that there are many other cases that are not documented and many other priests who are not named. They reviewed over a half million pages of documents tracing the history of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church of Pennsylvania.

The women and men of the grand jury are to be commended for their thoroughness, tenacity and courage to speak the truth. I have worked in the field of clergy sexual abuse for over twenty five years and dealt with over one thousand cases of abuse in just about every religious tradition, so I have some traction in the arena of what is sick. This is one of the sickest things I have ever read in my life. I wish I could say I am not sad, but I am. I wish I could say I am not sickened, but I am. I wish I could say I am surprised, but I am not. Read report here It includes all but two dioceses, which are the subject of other grand jury indictments.

This week the grand jury in Pennsylvania released a staggering 800 page indictment on the history of clergy sexual abuse in the Roman Catholic Church. Patricia Liberty, Theirreverentreverend.blog, Here are a few resources: Survivor Network of Those Abused by Priests, (check out their recommended reading page) Bishop Accountability My prayer is that you will come to know in your very bones that you are made in Holy Image, that you are God’s beloved child, that healing and wholeness are possible. My prayer is that you will find people to companion you in the healing journey, to be with you in the hurt and rage and deep grief of it all. The way will become clear as you are faithful to your healing process. Whether or not you ever return to church is your choice. To claim God’s love for you is your birth right. There is nothing you can do to change that. There is nothing you have done to change that. There is nothing that can happen to change that. There is nothing that has happened to change that. God’s grace and love is not mediated by any individual or agency. God’s presence is not confined by any institution. That the institutional church is always on the side of the perpetrator is not to be confused with how God acts and who God is. God is always on the side of those who are wounded, abused and broken. Righteous rage will serve you well as you heal. To be angry at an institution and its leaders who spoke of a loving God, and committed horrific abuse against you and so many others is a wholly appropriate response. You can be gay, transgender, cisgender, bisexual or any other sexual identity and still be Christian. Abuse did not cause or create your sexual orientation. Perhaps you thought you were gay, perhaps you are gay. Sometimes, however, abuse by priests makes for confused sexual identity in survivors. The priests who abused did so because they were abusers, not because of their sexual orientation. The abuse in the Roman Catholic Church is solely the responsibility of abusive priests and the leaders who colluded to protect them. Any religious leader who says this furthers the abuse. This crisis in the church has nothing to do with homosexuality. Perhaps you tried told another adult or your family and they didn’t believe you. You did nothing to ask for the abuse and there was nothing you could do to stop it. You came across the path of an abuser who saw your vulnerabilities as an opportunity. There are many things that make children vulnerable. Maybe you were different in some way and bullied by others. You were vulnerable and abusers look for vulnerable children. Know that what happened to you was not your fault. There is a community of survivors out there who can support you, who are on their own path to healing. Find companions who understand and don’t judge. Be faithful to your own process and where it takes you.

#ARESHINI PATHER HOW TO#

As you heal and grow stronger in broken places you can, if you choose, make different decisions about how to handle the pain. You did what you needed to do to survive, even if you didn’t fully understand why. Perhaps you experimented sexually to try and understand what happened to you. Perhaps you cut yourself to relieve the pain. Perhaps you medicated the pain with drugs or alcohol. What you have done to survive is not for others to judge. Your inner strength, tenacity and courage bring you to this day. You have survived the most profound abuse and betrayal.

Areshini pather