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	Plan Draws Mixed Reaction By Christine Olley Philadelphia Daily News September 14, 2006 http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/news/local/15514580.htm The prospect of victims of abuse by Catholic priests sitting down and talking with other priests about their experiences might seem a bit unsettling to some. But that's what's going to happen tomorrow on the Main Line - at the instigation of Cardinal Justin Rigali, archbishop of Philadelphia. The event is called "Witness to the Sorrow." Rigali and a number of auxiliary bishops will meet with two victims of abuse and the parent of abuse victims starting at 4 p.m. in the auditorium of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Wynnewood. After a scheduled two-hour meeting, the group will adjourn to St. Martin's Chapel on the seminary grounds for an evening Mass. Explaining the unprecedented move, Rigali said in a statement that the most significant fact he has learned in the past year is "the importance of listening to victims who are able to convey the hurt, pain and suffering which is still part of daily life for many of them." The session has stirred the expected controversy. John Salveson, president of the Foundation to Abolish Child Sex Abuse, a victim of such abuse, called Rigali "insensitive" in calling such a meeting. He said the archdiocese would do better to support the recommendations of a grand jury to reform its current sexual-abuse laws. "I think that it shows a complete lack of sympathy or empathy for anyone who has been abused by a member of the clergy," he said. "Why would you put people who have been abused by members of the clergy up to speak in front of more than 200 members of the clergy?" But others feel the meeting is a step in the right direction. Mary Achilles, the victims advocate for the archdiocese, defended Rigali's decision to hold such a meeting as an "incredibly positive one." "When we looked at the events of the past couple of months, it became very clear to us that the best way to understand this issue was to hear straight from the victims themselves," Achilles said. The Rev. Thomas Reese, a church commentator and authority on the sex-abuse crisis, agreed. Although he was not familiar with specifics of the gathering or why it was called, he said it was "a very smart and courageous move." "It's a way to personalize the topic on a very public level," Reese said from his office in the Woodstock Theological Center at Georgetown University. Ads announcing the meeting were launched three weeks ago in the Inquirer and on KYW-1060 news radio, said Archdiocesan spokeswoman Donna Farrell. Riglai's voice was featured in the radio ads. "I think that it's part of their efforts in the past 10 months to understand these victims," said Farrell. "This will allow the priests to witness and understand the long-term pain and suffering that these victims have experienced." But Salveson feels otherwise. "If they really wanted to spend two or three hours impacting and possibly improving survivors' lives, they should go to Harrisburg and actively lobby for the laws that the grand jury recommended in their report last year," he said. That report, released last September, outlined seven legislative reforms that the grand jury deemed necessary to address the sex-abuse scandal. The most critical, according to an opinion piece Salveson wrote for the Inquirer in April, is the removal of the criminal statute of limitations for the sexual abuse of children. He said, "It would allow the criminal prosecution of those who sexually abuse children no matter when the victims come forward." Richard Serbin, an attorney who has represented more than 100 victims of abuse in cases involving the clergy, said, "As the law now stands, the perpetrator of the abuse gets off, and those who protected him get off." Staff writers Tom Schmidt and David Gambacorta contributed to this report. olleyc@phillynews.com 215-854-5184
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