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| February 2004 |
| Bishop calls for Day of Prayer for
victims of abuse |
Gene Young
Managing Editor |
On the day the United States Conference
of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the John Jay College of Criminal
Justice, New York City, issue the second part of the study done
to measure which dioceses were in compliance with the “Charter
for the Protection of Children and Young People”, Bishop
Robert Carlson has called for a Day of Prayer for survivor victims
of abuse.
On February 27, the Friday after Ash Wednesday, the United States
Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) and the John Jay College
of Criminal Justice, New York City, will issue the independent
study done by the college to total the number of priest abusers
and victims and how much the crisis has cost the Church.
The first report issued last month showed the results of independent
audits on a diocese-by-diocese basis indicating which dioceses
were in compliance with the charter.
The audit for the Diocese of Sioux Falls showed it to be in
full compliance.
But while that information is being released in Washington,
DC, the people of the Diocese of Sioux Falls are being asked
to pray.
“I felt that the best response to the John Jay study is
prayer,” said Bishop Carlson. “First of all, a prayer
that nothing like that ever happens in our Church again; secondly,
a prayer seeking forgiveness from those who have been abused;
and third, prayer for victims or survivors for healing so that
they can move beyond that very tragic moment in their life.”
The bishop calls on everyone to take part in the Day of Prayer.
“At one level, we all have hurts and so actually, everyone
can participate,” he said. “It is a time for all
of us to get together and to pray through our hurts but especially
to pray for anybody who is a victim.”
Bishop Carlson stressed that the Day of Prayer is an opportunity
to pray for all victims of abuse, not just people of the church
sex abuse crisis. “Let’s pray for abuse victims
no matter who the perpetrator was and let’s pray for the
whole body of Christ. The body of Christ needs to be healed,”
he said.
The Day of Prayer in the diocese will be centered on the celebration
of Mass at St. Joseph Cathedral. Bishop Carlson will be the
celebrant at the noon liturgy.
But he wants every parish and every Catholic in the diocese
to be involved. “Because everyone cannot come to St. Joseph
Cathedral, I hope all the parishes in the Diocese of Sioux Falls
have a Mass of Healing, praying for all the victims of abuse,”
the bishop said.
The bishop also encouraged people to pray at home whether they
can attend Mass that day or not. “Saying the rosary, praying
for the Church, saying the penitential mysteries on Fridays,
what better time than during Lent to pray,” he said.
While the diocese observes a day of prayer, the results being
released in Washington will complete the two prong process established
to deal with the abuse crisis in the Church.
The independent audit team of the National Review Board visited
the Diocese of Sioux Falls back in September.
The Diocese was evaluated for its compliance with the Charter
for the Protection of Children and young people.
The audit team came to Sioux Falls, reviewed the diocese’s
policies, practices and clergy (bishop, priests and deacons)
personnel files, and interviewed a variety of priests, deacons
and religious as well as members of the Diocesan Review Board.
The Diocese has also participated in the national study commissioned
by the USCCB and carried out by the John Jay College which is
being released later this month.
It was the first independent study of its kind.
As the diocese prepared for both aspects of the Charter compliance
and review efforts, the diocese reviewed its records dating
back to 1950 or the last 54 years.
As reported in the October issue of The Bishop’s Bulletin,
the diocese learned that during that time the diocese was served
by 595 bishops, priests and deacons.
In that 53 years time period, there were 38 allegations of abuse
against 16 priests. Eleven of the priests were diocesan priests
and five were religious order priests. Nine of these priests
are dead, four have been removed from the priesthood or are
in the process of being removed and three are in supervised
settings.
In addition during the period, there were five cases of reported
abuse where the cleric (bishop, priest or deacon) was cleared
of any wrong doing after an external investigation or the victim
came forward and stated this person had not abused him.
“While these numbers suggest that the problem is less
prevalent in the church than in the society at large, the fact
remains that even one instance of abuse is one too many, especially
if it involves someone to whom we trust our spiritual care,”
the bishop said last October.
As a result, the bishop chose to focus the diocese’s attention
on prayer and healing that day.
He looks forward to the Day of Prayer because he believes it
can make a difference for the diocese.
“To come to the church is a great blessing because even
people who have not been the victims of abuse can come and pray
for the people who have,” said Bishop Carlson. “And
I hope it’s older people, young people and everybody in
between.”
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