What the Bishops Should Do For Victims

Asked by America‘s interviewer what the bishops should be doing for victims of clerical sexual abuse, Dawn Eden — herself a childhood victim — praises “victim-led support groups for healing done in conjunction with the local church,” giving a couple of examples and then says:

For bishops, the more you do to locate and encourage independent support networks for victims, the more victims will feel the church cares about them. When all of the efforts to help victims come from diocesan safe environment offices, victims get the impression that the church is just managing financial liability in a very top-down way. Outside of professional therapists, the best healers are the people themselves who have suffered. The two programs I mentioned allow the church to find help for victims without making victims feel like they’re under the control of the church, and so they answer the needs of both those who want to stay in the church and of those who do not.

Another good thing is that these victim-led outreaches are open to anyone who has suffered abuse, not just victims of clergy abuse, and that approach helps victims walk together in solidarity without feeling like they are alone. Although I don’t appreciate it when groups like the Catholic League try to minimize clerical abuse by talking about how other segments of society abuse people more than clergy, we need to recognize that the problem of abuse is exponentially larger than that which has been perpetrated by church representatives.

For Dawn’s insights on healing from sexual abuse, see yesterday’s Sexuality, Sexual Abuse & Chastity.