ARIZONA
The Catholic Sun
FLAGSTAFF — In her poem “Healing,” Diane Vreuls writes, “They say the suffering unto health hurts less than suffering unto death. Those suffering don’t say this.”
In an effort to ease the suffering of victims of abuse, especially those abused by the clergy, Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted celebrated Mass at San Francisco de Asís Parish in Flagstaff March 14, offering words of hope and healing.
It’s among a special set of liturgies hosted each year by the diocesan Office of Child and Youth Protection for survivors of abuse and their families. At the Mass, which came ahead of April being Child Abuse Prevention Month, the bishop reflected on the words of the first reading of the Mass: “Come, let us return to the Lord, … it is He who will heal us … he will bind our wounds” (Hosea 6:1).
Bishop Thomas J. Olmsted encourages anyone who has been a victim of child sexual abuse by any employee of the Roman Catholic Church to please come forward by contacting the Office of Child and Youth Protection.
We are here because the love of Jesus prompts us, moves us, impels us,” Bishop Olmsted said. “We want whoever has been abused to know that Jesus loves them and that we love them and that they are not alone.”
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