BishopAccountability.org
	Abuse Victim Reacts to Pope's Visit WDIO April 20, 2008 http://www.wdio.com/article/stories/S419147.shtml?cat=10335 [with video] The thousands of victims who didn't get a chance to speak one-on-one with the Pope still experienced an emotional roller coaster, as they watched him address the sexual abuse scandal. One Duluth man who was abused by a priest in Proctor in 1965, said the Pope's words and actions is helping him put the abuse behind him. "He made the first move," said Verne Wagner. "He said, 'We screwed up, not only are we ashamed of what happened, but we're ashamed of how we handled it." Wagner says he's approached leaders of the Catholic Church without ever getting the response he wanted or needed to restore his faith. "When you've been abused as a little boy, by a priest, your whole church, and then you have to file a lawsuit to get them to even recognize that...it seems like you've been abused time and time again," he said. "Whether I'll ever regain my faith in church, I don't know," he added. "But it's a deep breath of fresh air for all of us." A breath strong enough to give Verne the strength to go back to church. On Sunday, he went back to the place where he was abused for the first time since 1992. "I wanted to go, get some closure," he said. "I hope that's what this is going to be, a sense of closure." But Wagner is looking at the situation with guarded optimism. He hopes others in the church will now follow the Pope's lead, and help victim's heal. "It's time to move on," he said. "It's time to remember what happened so we can prevent them, so we can not repeat those mistakes...but now its time to heal."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.