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	Local's Quilt Dedicated to Abuse Victims By Marianne Love Pasadena Stae-News [California] June 15, 2006 http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_3938805 Monrovia - Erin Brady's passion is quilting. Over the past two months, for every waking hour, she has used this passion to stitch a quilt with the faces of 168 children who say they were sexually molested by Catholic priests in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. And, in the process, she has faced her own pain and memories of abuse. Brady finished the quilt in time for today's bi-annual meeting in Los Angeles of about 300U.S. Catholic bishops. It will be part of a 48-hour vigil set up by A Coalition for Truth. The survivors' group will set up the quilt panels at Pershing Square in downtown Los Angeles where they will be on display from 1:30 p.m. today to 1:30 p.m. Saturday during the bishops' visit. "This is a way to show we are a community. We are stitched together," said Brady, who lives in Monrovia and teaches ninth grade in Canyon Oaks, Monrovia's continuation high school. "We are hoping Catholics would come out to view this and to show their support for people in their own community who were hurt." The quilt is made up of six 4-by-6-foot panels with 28faces on each in black-and-white and color photos The center of each panel is embroidered with the words abuse survivors used to express their emotions: "shattered lives," "broken hearts," "stolen souls," "community divided," "lost innocence," "betrayed trust." "These are the phrases I hear over and over again from survivors. These are the common feelings," said Brady, 47, who is one of the original members of Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests, now a nationwide support organization with thousands of members. Tod Tamberg, spokesman for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, said the quilt is a step in the healing process. "Equally important, is making sure that children are safe from abuse and other dangers, today and in the future," Tamberg said. "The Archdiocese fingerprints and background checks every priest, teacher, employee and volunteer who works with our children." Tamberg said more than 30,000 parents, teachers and others have been trained in abuse prevention and safe environments programs. Students in Catholic schools also are taught age-appropriate "good touching, bad touching." Brady says she was molested during the third, fourth and fifth grades at Immaculate Conception Catholic School in Monrovia during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Criminal charges were never filed against the perpetrator, she said, because the statute of limitations had expired. Brady has filed a civil lawsuit against the Archdiocese, which is pending along with about 500 other cases. Brady said the alleged molestations were severe and took place in a basement library under the church, in the rectory and in a car. She said she suppressed her pain until she was 34 and living in a convent while studying to become a nun. "I put it all away until I could deal with it," Brady said. "Sometimes things would bother me, but I didn't know why." Brady says the quilt is a physical representation of the children who suffered. Mary Pitcher of Long Beach, a spokeswoman for A Coalition for Truth, said it gives a presence to those voices that haven't been heard. "We are asking for the church, not just the bishops, and Catholics to listen to the survivors," Pitcher said. "We also know we can't depend on those who created the problem to fix it. And so the people who know how to fix it are the survivors; they have the answers. That's who we want to make sure are heard." marianne.love@sgvn.com (626) 962-8811, Ext. 2108
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