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	To See or Not to See in Assisi National Survivor Advocates Coalition October 28, 2011 http://nationalsurvivoradvocatescoalition.wordpress.com/editorials/ It’s incredible how many ways the Vatican can find to insult survivors. First, we apologize to them for yet another hurt inflicted on them yesterday. We know they know it’s nothing new but they should not have to deal with the deluge of what’s supposed to roll off their backs. And it shouldn’t go without comment. Yesterday, Pope Benedict went to St. Francis the Reformer’s Assisi to mark the 25th anniversary of Pope John Paul II’s initiation of a gathering of religious leaders from across the religious spectrum for the purpose of praying together for justice and peace. Pope Benedict set up the day so that he would not actually be praying with the other leaders nor would any of them pray with each other. After the speeches when it came time for prayer, — the billed purpose of the event — all the attendees went to separate rooms. That’s because Pope Benedict boycotted the John Paul II inaugural event in 1986 on the grounds that praying together with leaders of the world’s religions would send a message that all religions were equal. But a 12th century dead Francis, not a live reformer, presents a nice patina to the world and Assisi is a photographic location and the combination provides for good press. Pope Benedict knows this so he found a way to bend his quarter century objections and take advantage of the anniversary. What we think was the most striking about this gathering and its odd ways was that in addition to the usual subjects that would be on the invitation list for this type of gathering — the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, a representative of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, the Secretary of the International Conference of Islamic Scholars, and representatives of Buddhism and Hinduism — Pope Benedict invited “four or five” as the media stories note, “unbelievers.” Where does the Vatican find the world representatives of “unbelievers”? By tweeting? Facebook page? You Tube? Running a contest for an all Vatican expense paid visit to Assisi? Find them the Vatican did. Found and labeled them as leaders of the world’s unbelievers. Not just any old garden variety unbelievers. Unbelievers that were agnostics and thus a better grade of unbelievers for the papal presence than atheists. And speak to them and of them, Pope Benedict did. These are the words of Pope Benedict: “In addition to the two phenomena of religion and anti-religion, a further basic orientation is found in the growing world of agnosticism: …people who are nevertheless on the lookout for truth, searching for God. Such people do not simply assert: ‘There is no God’. They suffer from His absence and yet are inwardly making their way towards Him, inasmuch as they seek truth and goodness. …. “These people are seeking the truth, they are seeking the true God, Whose image is frequently concealed in the religions because of the ways in which they are often practised. Their inability to find God is partly the responsibility of believers with a limited or even falsified image of God. So all their struggling and questioning is in part an appeal to believers to purify their faith, so that God, the true God, becomes accessible. Therefore I have consciously invited delegates of this third group to our meeting in Assisi, which does not simply bring together representatives of religious institutions. Rather it is a case of being together on a journey towards truth, a case of taking a decisive stand for human dignity and a case of common engagement for peace against every form of destructive force. Finally I would like to assure you that the Catholic Church will not let up in her fight against violence, in her commitment for peace in the world. We are animated by the common desire to be ‘pilgrims of truth, pilgrims of peace’”. Unbelievable! The Pope decides to step a toe into the waters of why people don’t believe and he intentionally does not invite or address the thousands of Catholics driven from their faith home and blocked in their avenues to God as a result of the crippling, scarring, horrific, soul murdering effects of sexual abuse by priest and nuns — plus the legion of folks in their families, and the families of those who committed suicide or who were murdered. These are not those without the gift of faith. These are those from whom the gift was violently ripped away. These are those who are called money grubbing, angry, and unforgiving. These are those who are in their very acts of caring for each other Christ for each other. A journey toward truth? A decisive stand for human dignity? Common engagement for peace against every form of destructive force? Pilgrims of truth? We say it again: unbelievable! — and with the incredulity we offer Barbara Brown Taylor’s wisdom: ” No one longs for what he or she already has, and yet the accumulated insight of those wise about life suggests that the reason so many of us cannot see the red X that marks the spot is because we are standing on it. All we lack is the willingness to imagine that we already have everything we need. The only thing missing is our consent to be where we are. ” — (from An Altar in the World: A Geography of Faith) — Kristine Ward, Chair, National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC) Contact: KristineWard@hotmail.com, 937-272-0308
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