BishopAccountability.org
	Lessons from Abuse Documentary By Elena Curti The Tablet June 16, 2011 http://www.thetablet.co.uk/blogsub.php?id=129&ti=17 It is distressing to see men in their fifties and sixties break down when they describe how priests physically and sexually abused them as young children. For some the horror and shame appears as fresh as the day it happened and they carry a heavy burden throughout their lives. This is brought home in a documentary being shown on BBC1 next Tuesday at 10.35pm that is also a powerful study in the Church's efforts to bring about reconciliation and healing and how it can fall short. It is almost a mantra among survivors of clerical abuse that what they want most of all for the Church to acknowledge their suffering and to apologise. The Provincial of the Rosminians, Fr David Myers, did just that when he was approached by a group of men who related how they were physically and sexually abused at two of the order's schools in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. One of the priests responsible was Fr Kit Cunningham, a colourful and much loved London priest who died last December. Fr Myers sent the survivors' testimonies to the perpetrators. The priests were invited to write letters of apology - Fr Cunningham confessed to sexual abuse and met at least one of his victims before he died. He sent back his MBE to Buckingham Palace though did not explain the reason. In fact the Rosminians kept quiet about the whole matter even after Fr Cunningham's death. His victims were furious about the glowing obituaries that appeared and some were more determined than ever to seek compensation. The lessons? Fr Myers should have publicly acknowledged the history of abuse at the two schools. Instead he seemed to cast the victims in the role of confessors who would then forgive and forget - an unrealistic expectation. Then there is his reaction to the claims for compensation. Fr Myers told the claimants that giving them money would divert funds from the orders' charitable enterprises and that would be wrong. In short he expected them to react like faithful Catholics which after their experiences, most were not. There is no alternative for the Church in these circumstances. It should not try to spare itself from humiliation and penury. Only by making itself completely vulnerable can it hope to bring about real reconciliation.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.