FORT MADISON (IA)
Fort Madison Daily Democrat
Chris Faulkner/Staff Writer
In one sense, it's not a topic that many people would discuss while sitting around the dinner table or while sitting on the bleachers next to fellow fans at the local high school sporting event.
But total silence over the issue of sexual abuse by priests is not the right approach either, according to the Rev. David Hitch, a Fort Madison native who is parish priest at St. Mary's in Tipton.
Hitch has been working with Concerned Catholics of Davenport the past few years, and he said he wants more people to be aware of what had been going on in the past and what's being done -- or not done, as the case may be -- in the present.
The group will be putting on a seminar -- A Weekend of Hope and Understanding -- at Faith United Church of Christ, 1609 Deforest Avenue in Iowa City.
The seminar will start at 6:30 p.m. Friday with a half-hour registration period, and end at 5 p.m. Saturday, June 25. The cost of the seminar is $25. A group dinner will be held afterward from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. for an additional $15.