Healing must begin somewhere…

Wondering what happened in the little chapel where six survivors of sexual abuse met Pope Benedict?

Rocco at Whispers in the Loggia links to a beautiful and difficult read from the St. Louis Platform, by Patricia Rice:

Olan Horne, 48, a survivor of clerical sex abuse, believes that Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States marks a turning point in the way victims of sexual abuse are treated in the Catholic Church.

“I saw it in his face, heard his voice. He understands,” said Horne, one of six survivors who met Thursday with the pope. He spoke with the St. Louis Beacon from his Massachusetts university food service office….

“Benedict told the bishops to meet with survivors as he had; this pope gets it,” said Horne. “I like to say that I’m from Missouri and you are going to have to Show Me. Benedict showed me.”…
[…]
Bernie McDaid, 52, another Boston survivor who is a painting contractor in Boston, tried to tell his story to Pope John Paul II in 2003. He traveled to Rome but saw only Vatican officials, he told the Beacon from a Boston construction site. This time was different….
[…]
The pope entered the residence’s small 25-by-15 foot chapel and immediately knelt in silent prayer. Then he spoke to the survivors for what Horne recalled was about 20 minutes. Then, each of the six had a private face-to-face visit with the pope.

A woman on the Boston archdiocesan victims’ assistance staff handed the pope a book with 1,600 first names written on its pages. Cardinal Sean O’Malley explained to the pope that the list was of all victims of clerical sexual abuse in the Boston archdiocese who had asked its bishops for pastoral care. Pages were left blank to symbolize those victims who had never voiced their tragic complaints, O’Malley explained.

“The pope was shocked at the number,” Horne said. “You could see the sincerity of the shock on his face. Benedict had never known that there was that many in Boston. He was stunned. So was the Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Pietro Sambi. That was a moment. They do have a tough role.”

O’Malley asked the pope to pray for the victims listed in the book, and the pope promised to do so.
[…]
The pope spoke for about 20 minutes, asking forgiveness and speaking of his personal shame over the depraved priests who crushed the innocence of children, Horne and McDaid said.

The most dramatic moment of the gathering came when the only woman victim’s turn came for her private time with Benedict, Horne said. With all the others’ heads turned to give her privacy, she stood facing the standing pope. She wept as words escaped her.

“Her sounds were filled with sorrow, like an aria,” said Horne. “So sorrowful, yet the sweetest sound, as if it were being exhaled. There was complete reverence around the room. No one interrupted. No one said anything like ‘it’s going to be all right.’ Her sobs floated around the room, settled around all of us in the room. Then it was expelled. You saw the pain in Benedict’s face.”

I love the fact that Olan Horne repeats several times in the story that although he had lost his faith, he always had “hope” – and the theme of Benedict’s visit was “Christ our Hope,” and his last encyclical) was “Saved by Hope.” You’ll want to read the whole thing.