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	O'Malley Returning to St. Agnes By Nadine Wandzilak tri-town@cnc.com Tri-Town Transcript [Middleton MA] May 19, 2006 http://www2.townonline.com/boxford/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=499332 Archbishop Cardinal Sean O'Malley will visit Middleton next Saturday, May 27, to a offer Mass at St. Agnes Church. The appearance is part of a "pilgrimage of repentance and hope: a novena to the Holy Spirit" in nine communities that experienced "an especially painful history of sexual abuse of children by priests and, at one parish, a lay youth worker." Christopher Reardon, who ran the Confraternity of Christian Doctrine program and the youth ministry at St. Agnes parish, pleaded guilty in 2001 to 75 counts including rape, indecent assault and battery on a child and disseminating pornography and was sentenced to 40 to 50 years in prison. "The services will include a public acknowledgement of the sins and crimes committed," according to the Archdiocese, "and an act of reparation that will enable the Cardinal and clergy to join in an expression of repentance for priests and bishops whose actions and inactions gravely harmed the lives of children and young people entrusted to their care." A person who was assaulted will speak at the service, according to archdiocese spokesperson Betsy Kelly. Cardinal O'Malley will give a homily; the details are not yet finalized, she said. The Mass at St. Agnes Church will begin at 5 p.m. 'The novena will begin on May 25, Ascension Thursday, with a Mass at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross in Boston and end with a Mass celebrating the Vigil of Pentecost at St. Columbkille in Brighton on June 3. Between those Masses, services will be held in parishes in each of the five regions of the Archdiocese of Boston, including Middleton, "to allow as many people as possible to participate," according to the archdiocese in a press release. "Publicly acknowledging the church's faults and failures is an important element of asking forgiveness of those who have been harmed by the church,'" the release quotes O'Malley. "'The sexual abuse crisis has caused intense suffering for survivors and their families and has been a source of shame and sorrow for our entire church community. The sexual crimes against children by priests and the church's initial failure to respond have fractured the essential spiritual connection necessary for the bonds of faith to flourish in our parishes and community.'" The archdiocese hopes the services "bring together survivors, their families and friends as well as clergy, parishioners and members of the broader community." O'Malley came to St. Agnes Church in the last year as part of a round of visits to many churches, according to parish secretary Debbie Jones. Before that, he came in 2003, for the installation of Rev. Michael Hobson, Jones said. The parish was told of the cardinal's visit this past Sunday, according to Jones. "People are very excited that the cardinal is coming," she said. O'Malley has "made it a priority to create safe environments in our churches and schools and to continue to provide support to survivors and all people who have suffered as a result of clergy sexual abuse," according to a note at the end of the press release, "by working with law enforcement agencies and community professionals" to report and investigate instances of sexual abuse and to develop and implement prevention and education programs through the Office of Pastoral Support and Outreach.
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