Antigonish Diocese Launches Book Study on Healing Sexual Abuse
By Deborah Gyapong
OTTAWA - As part of its ongoing process of renewal and healing, Nova Scotia's Antigonish diocese is promoting a program for parishioners based on Sr. Nuala Kenny's book Healing in the Church: Diagnosing and Treating the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis. In a Jan. 20 pastoral letter, Antigonish Bishop Joseph Dunn invited the faithful to join one of these study groups as part of an ongoing process of renewal and healing leading up to a planned Diocesan Reconciliation Service in June. "This workbook provides a guide for groups who are seeking to understand how this crisis occurred by exploring such topics as: the lessons learned from the crisis, who we are as a Church, and how clergy and laity need to relate to each other," Dunn wrote. The diocese is also about to release a five-year pastoral plan entitled Rebuilding Trust and Hope that will be distributed to parishes and be uploaded to the diocesan website, said diocesan spokesman Fr. Don MacGillivray in a statement. Antigonish held a series of deanery meetings in the fall of 2013. The meetings gave people who were hurt by clerical sexual abuse or the scandal of former Antigonish Bishop Raymond Lahey's child pornography conviction an opportunity to share their concerns. "While many of us may not have personally experienced sexual abuse by clergy, we still have to come to terms with our sense of betrayal," Dunn wrote. "This betrayal arises because some of our priests were involved in this activity, because Bishop Lahey was arrested for the possession of child pornography, because some of our Church leaders addressed the issue in a way that did not pay attention to the needs of the victims, and because some parishioners feel deeply hurt because the actions of these priests have impacted the life of our parishes." Dunn also called for each parish to have monthly "Holy Hours to pray for the gift of healing, reparation and reconciliation" as the diocese prepares for a June reconciliation service. "At that service, we will gather as a diocese to open ourselves to God's reconciling grace, a grace that will help us cope with the pain and injury as we experience healing in the presence of a loving and supportive community," Dunn wrote. Dunn invited all parishioners "to see these efforts as being deeply connected to who we are as a people of faith." "Please take advantage of any event that might assist us with our healing," the bishop wrote. "Above all, I urge all of us to take this time to seek the grace of peace and reconciliation through personal prayer, the parish Holy Hours and the Sacrament of Reconciliation." The five-year plan came out of a Diocesan Renewal Congress held last October, which called for the diocese to "continue the journey toward reconciliation, from brokenness to healing," Dunn said. In August 2009, only weeks before Lahey was found in possession of child pornography at the Ottawa airport, Lahey had announced a $16 million settlement of a class action lawsuit by clerical sexual abuse victims. It was hailed as a positive gesture towards victims. Lahey pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography in 2011 and served eight months in jail. He was dismissed from the clerical state in 2012. This lawsuit forced the diocese to divest itself of properties and collect parish savings accounts. The diocese has made the last payment required by the courts to meet the $13 million pay-out to victims and the additional $3 million in administrative costs or for those victims not part of the class-action lawsuit. But the divestment of property to meet the cost of the loan taken out to meet the requirements of the lawsuit has not been completed.
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