BishopAccountability.org
	Women Abused As Children Begin to Come Forward By Sister Maureen Paul Turlish The News Journal October 12, 2008 http://www.delawareonline.com/article/20081012/COMMUNITIES1001/810120402 In the Diocese of Wilmington, Delaware as in dioceses across the country the swath of damage caused by sexual predators has broadened so that it no longer includes only men, "Woman says priest assaulted her as teen," (10/12/08). Women are beginning to feel empowered, believed and supported enough to come out of the shadows and speak the truth about what was done to them. It has been a long time coming. The leadership of our church should be doing all that it can to encourage as many victims of sexual abuse to come forward as possible by publicizing the existence of abuse support groups in the diocesan newspaper, The Dialog, in the church bulletins of every parish and from the pulpit of all churches as well as recognizing and dialoging with members of the church who belong to groups such as Voice of the Faithful, which was founded in 2002 fully in accord with the church's Canon Law especially Canon 212:3 which says: "In accord with the knowledge, competence and preeminence which they possess, the Christian faithful have the right and even at times a duty to manifest to the sacred pastors their opinion on matters which pertain to the good of the Church, and they have a right to make their opinion known to the other Christian faithful, with due regard for the integrity of faith and morals and reverence towards their pastors, and with consideration for the common good and the dignity of persons." So it was very good news to hear that a letter was recently sent by Wilmington's new Bishop Fran Malooly to every parish in the diocese directing them to publicize the existence of a survivors' support group under the auspices of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. It is sincerely to be hoped that this is but a first step in better relations between church leadership and many of the church faithful who have worked tirelessly during the past few years to hold the institutional church to its 2002 promise of accountability and transparency. Delaware, with the 2007 passage of the Child Victims Law, has provided landmark legislation which is now being copied by numerous states across the country because it is non-discriminatory. It holds predators of all stripes, religious affiliation and occupation accountable for the terrible violations of soul and body which is childhood sexual abuse. Now the State of Delaware gives more protection to victims of childhood sexual abuse then it does to sexual predators and for that all Delawareans can be proud.
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