O'Malley Asks Forgiveness for Church Sins, by Charles A. Radin, Boston Globe, May 26, 2006

O'Malley Asks Forgiveness for Church Sins

By Charles A. Radin
Boston Globe
May 26, 2006

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/05/26/
omalley_asks_forgiveness_for_church_sins/

Priests prostrated themselves on the altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross last night, as a cantor and choir sang a litany of repentance. Photo by The Catholic Archdiocese of Boston

Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley and 22 priests of the Archdiocese of Boston prostrated themselves on the altar of the Cathedral of the Holy Cross last night and asked forgiveness for the sins of the Catholic Church after hearing a survivor of clergy sexual abuse speak of his suffering.

In the first of 10 Masses and prayer services planned by O'Malley in an attempt to heal his scandal-plagued archdiocese, Olan Horne told the priests and 140 others in the cavernous cathedral: "I was not a weekend Catholic. The church was the centerpiece of our lives. When I came forward, there was shame, there was fear, there was confusion.

"I spent a lot of time in therapy," he said. "I try to make sense of it. It parallels what goes on in the church."

O'Malley and the other clergy then lay face down for about eight minutes before a crucifix taken from Assumption Parish in Bellingham, a now-closed church where a former associate pastor pleaded guilty last year to molesting the altar boys in his charge.

As the clergy lay prostrate, a cantor and choir sang a litany of repentance, composed for the occasion by a survivor, enumerating the sins of abusive priests and of higher-level churchmen who failed to stop them.

"Forgive us for the sins of your bishops. Forgive us for the sins of your priests," the cantor sang. "Forgive us for burdening your people. . . . Forgive us for the failure to act."

After each line in the litany, victims, relatives, and others in the pews responded softly, "Have mercy on us."

In his homily, O'Malley declared, "It is only when we take our pain to God that it will be cured. It is only when we trust each other that there will be real healing."

He expressed sorrow for the long-hidden suffering of the victims of sexual abuse, and regret for the inaction of churchmen that allowed it to continue. Now, he said, "We come together to ask for God's forgiveness and his mercy."

But outside the South End cathedral, survivors and other critics of the church's handling of sexual abuse said O'Malley's pilgrimage of penitence, which will take him to churches throughout the archdiocese, is designed more to rebuild the institutional church than to heal victims of its priests.

More than a dozen demonstrators held signs and posters displaying the names and pictures of survivors and officials of the archdiocese. John Harris , a soft-spoken former nurse who says he was raped in 1979 by defrocked priest Paul R. Shanley , stood outside holding a sign that read, "Dirty hands do not heal," and "PR ploy for $$$."

Harris, who was invited to the Mass, said it was designed to improve the church's image and increase its funding. "I don't believe anyone with dirty hands can heal anyone, and O'Malley has dirty hands," he said.

Ann Hagan Webb of Wellesley, a survivor and anti abuse activist, said that many victims were abused immediately after confession or behind the altar or in a church hall. "To ask us to go into a church is asking us to revisit the place where we were most hurt and harmed," she said.

When O'Malley announced the pilgrimage two weeks ago, Webb said the initiative was a step in the right direction, even though the venue was wrong. But she said yesterday that disclosures this week about the cardinal's handling of sexual-misconduct complaints against Dr. Robert M. Haddad , who resigned early yesterday as head of the archdiocese's healthcare system, undercut the credibility of O'Malley's penance.

"The debacle with Haddad makes him seem so insincere," Webb said. "Once again he protected the person in power, the perpetrator, at the expense of people who were reporting abuse."

The service in the cathedral -- which will be said at some stops on the pilgrimage as part of a Mass and at others as a simpler, shorter prayer service -- was solemn, dramatic, and structured to emphasize that O'Malley was humble and repentant. Instead of the elaborate procession with musical accompaniment that ordinarily begins services at the cathedral, O'Malley walked down the central aisle in silence, alone except for the bearer of the crucifix from the closed Bellingham church.

The cardinal did not sit in the presider's chair on the raised altar, as he usually would, but in the front pew. Visitors were welcomed to the service by the Rev. John Connolly , who serves both as rector of the cathedral and chief assistant to the cardinal for all matters related to clergy sexual abuse.

Following O'Malley's homily, the congregation prayed for the intercession of the Holy Spirit to restore the church, heal the victims, and lead those who committed abuses to true repentance.

That prayer also was composed specifically for the pilgrimage of repentance, in this case by a group of victims and priests working together.

Priests then sprinkled the congregants and sanctuary with holy water.

"This is meant as an acknowledgement that there was a grave offense against God and God's people, and that in many cases the abuse actually occurred within the church itself," said Barbara Thorp, director of the archdiocesan office for support of survivors of abuse. "This sprinkling rite is a cleansing and renewal of the church itself . . . to reclaim the sacredness of the space."

The archdiocese has paid about $150 million in compensation to victims of sexual abuse, and to fund therapy and prevention programs. O'Malley and his predecessor Cardinal Bernard F. Law have apologized publicly numerous times. But the pilgrimage begun last night is the first attempt by the archdiocese to deal with the sexual abuse crisis through Catholic ritual.

Nancy Ammerman , a Boston University sociology professor who specializes in studying religious community, said that marking significant events with ritual is a human need often filled by religion and that, without this, it would be difficult for the archdiocese to begin to heal.

"For reconciliation, there must be a recognition that a breach has happened," Ammerman said. "Until you say, `Father forgive me, for I have sinned,' you can't move on."

Globe correspondent Michael Naughton contributed to this report. Radin can be reached at radin@globe.com.