By Ann Phillips Browning
Kalamazoo Gazette
November 13, 2010
http://www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2010/11/viewpoint_kalamazoo_diocese_ai.html
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There are some decent Catholic leaders out there, you just don’t hear about them.
One more article about a priest sexually abusing a child — it gets to be old news and hopefully not the kind you enjoy reading. It is for that reason I wanted to share my experience. I present a different take on the stories you are used to reading.
I was sexually abused by a priest who was visiting the Kalamazoo diocese back in the 1970s. I was volunteering as a receptionist in the rectory on Saturdays when I was in high school. I was the only female and the only minor in a rectory which housed two priests. This “set-up” would never occur today. But decades ago it was inconceivable to most people that a priest would ever sexually molest anyone, let alone a minor.
But I am not writing to bemoan or to belabor what happened to me. I have been the recipient of many years of counseling and am an alumna of the Trauma Recovery program developed here in Kalamazoo and am well on my way in my healing journey.
What I am writing is to let you, the people of Kalamazoo, know how awesome our Catholic diocese has been as I have taken this journey. I first started being able to talk about being an abuse victim back in 2002 when Bishop James Murray was the head of our diocese.
I contacted him by letter, and he called me on the phone to invite me to visit him. He received me with graciousness, love and genuine sadness when he heard my story. He gave me his personal phone number and offered any services available. I wasn’t ready to pursue any kind of healing within the Catholic church back then, but it cracked open the door.
Recovery Program
Two years ago I went through the Trauma Recovery program. This program changed my life and moved me along in the healing process beyond what I could imagine. This program is now a model for other dioceses in the United States and is spreading to other countries. It was designed and started by Sharon Froom and Father Ken Schmidt.
In February, after 26 years, I was emotionally ready to file a formal complaint with Pat Hall, director of our Safe Environment Office. As a result, I also filed a report with the police department in the city where the abuse occurred. This has not been an easy process. All the wounds and emotions that were evoked back during the original abuse have raised their ugly heads again as I have pursued justice for myself and outreach to any other potential survivors. Pat has stood by my side and has patiently and kindly encouraged me to keep walking the path, seeking justice from the Catholic church.
Members of the diocese have been absolutely marvelous in their support. I know that most of you have read many, many articles about the Catholic church and the bishops who have tried to cover up, ignore or — worse yet — allow the continuation of abuse by priests.
Well, we are not in one of those dioceses. Bishop Paul Bradley and Monsignor Martin met with me personally after I filed the claim. They heard my story and offered their apologies, prayers and support for my healing. I have also met personally with members of our diocese’s review board for claims of sexual abuse and they received me with warmth and kindness and concern for discovering truth and justice.
Father James Richardson , Father Ken Schmidt and Father Brian Stanley (now serving with the Diocese of the Armed Forces) have spent many, many hours with me helping me walk back into the Catholic church. They have mentored me, re-cathechised me and walked through some significantly traumatic episodes I have experienced when triggered by various stimuli encountered as I come back to the Catholic faith. They have consistently been available to show their support and sorrow over what happened. They have prayed for me, prayed with me, blessed and anointed me.
As God ordained — not coincidence, as some would say — my psychiatrist and therapist are also members at St. Thomas More, and are members of this diocese. They both, in their professional roles, have supported me, in both my healing and in walking through the process of seeking justice. They have encouraged me to re-establish a loving and trusting relationship with God through the spiritual gifts and practices of the Catholic church.
Journey back not over yet
The story isn’t over yet. I don’t know the outcome of my report. I don’t know what, if any sanctions the accused priest will experience. Our diocese will be sending a report and recommendations to the Office of the Doctrine of the Faith in Rome where the final outcome will be determined. My abuser is still a priest and has had no sanctions imposed upon him.
But I know this, I am blessed. I am proud to be a member of a Catholic church in the Diocese of Kalamazoo. I want to shout to the world that there are many, many good bishops, priests and Catholics who are just as horrified and sickened by reports of sexual abuse of minors by priests. The leaders of our diocese want nothing less than to help those who have been wounded, and to deal firmly with those who have been perpetrators.
I have seen the pain and shame on the faces of our own priests and bishops who themselves have had their reputations blemished by simply being a fellow clergy member. Please remember that the number of sexual abusers in the Catholic church is a minute minority. I can emphatically state the priests and clergy members I have encountered are some of the most godly, loving, virtuous and caring people I have ever met. They are out there on the front lines battling the evil deeds committed by a few deceived men.
Be proud, fellow Catholics, of your church and especially the diocese of Kalamazoo. It has responded well to the horrible realities that occurred in the past. It is committed to preventing such atrocities from ever happening again, and it is committed to walking alongside those of us who have been so grievously wounded.
Don’t hang your heads in shame over the past, hold your head high and be proud that as we move forward, we are modeling to the rest of the world the very premise of our sacrament of reconciliation. The church has confessed its faults, asked for forgiveness and is walking out its penance of making restitution to the hurt and providing safeguards so such actions may never happen again. We are not a perfect church, but we are a church that has learned from its mistakes and is striving to do better. Isn’t that what a good church is supposed to do? Isn’t that what each of us as an individual should do?
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