Sunday rally set at Basilica for child victims of sex abuse
PHILADELPHIA » A group of Catholics this morning will rally on behalf of survivors of childhood sexual abuse, and at the same time call for action and change.
The rally is set for 11:30 a.m. outside the Basilica SS. Peter and Paul in downtown Philadelphia. All regardless of their faith are welcome.
Adrienne Alexander in Chicago began the effort nationwide after a Pennsylvania grand jury earlier this month released a report identifying more than 300 Roman Catholic priests who sexually abused more than 1,000 children over decades while the church covered it up.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro convened this grand jury in 2016 to review cases in the Allentown, Erie, Greensburg, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh
and Scranton dioceses.
The Archdiocese of Philadelphia was not included. It was the subject of examination in 2005 by a grand jury convened by Philadelphia District Attorney Lynne Abraham and another in
2011 that found more than
60 diocesan priests abused dozens of victims, including many in Delaware County.
Since then, the archdiocese has changed its protocol for those paid and volunteers working with children to include extensive procedures from background checks, to training, to outlined reporting policies.
Today, a group of young Catholics will stand at Sister Cities Park across the street from the Cathedral of SS. Peter & Paul at 18th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia to stand in solidarity with victims and to call on legislators to toughen laws around civil and criminal impacts of childhood sexual abuse.
The Philadelphia gathering has been coordinated by Alyssa Duffner of Mount Laurel, N.J., and Villanova law student Mary Haggerty, both who are lifelong Catholics who volunteered with Jesuits while serving remote parts of the United States.
Duffner, who attended 17 years of Catholic school, said she saw a Facebook post from Alexander, who had been feeling frustrated and angry after the release of the grand jury reports wasn’t addressed at her local church.
So Alexander decided to host a similar gathering in her area while encouraging others to do the same
in their regions. Duffner picked up the cause in the Delaware Valley.
“We the laity are the church,” Alexander said. “We stand with victims and survivors and we really want to see transparency and action on their behalf.”
Plus, she added, “We need to bring this to Philadelphia. We need to bring this to Pennsylvania where this all happened.”
Duffner said the organizers want the church to support four recommendations made by the state grand jury earlier this month.
They include: eliminating the criminal statute of limitations for sexually abusing children; establishing a two-year window for civil litigation for survivors; clarifying the penalties for failure to report child sexual abuse; and prohibiting non-disclosure agreements regarding cooperation with law enforcement officials.
“We’re calling for the church to support and cooperate with the Pennsylvania grand jury recommendations and for them not to lobby against them,” Duffner said.
Mary Haggerty, who’s studying law at Villanova University, just finished a volunteer year through a Jesuit program that Duffner also did. Duffner worked in Montana; Haggerty worked at a domestic violence and sexual abuse center in Idaho.
With her experience, Haggerty said it made sense for her to help with this event.
“The actual act of sexual violence is the real issue, but the second main issue is that people don’t feel believed,” she said. “The most important thing you could do for a survivor’s mental health is to say, ‘I’m here for you. I believe you. Is there anything you need from me right now?’”
Haggerty added, “that’s the saddest story – ‘I told my parents and they didn’t believe me,’” she said. “Those people are not bad people. Most of the people say that it’s social conditioning. That’s what we do as a society.”
But, both believe it’s time for change.
At the gathering, brochures will be distributed that list resources for survivors and friends and family members. Haggerty said even if a survivor is unable to call a hotline, a loved one can to learn what’s the next best thing to do for that person.
She said it’s crucial that survivors know and are told, “You are not by yourself and you did nothing wrong.”
Duffner wanted to be clear about the importance the church has in her life.
“This isn’t an attack on the church,” she said. “I’ve been a part of the church and really love the church, but we are really outraged at what happened … Everybody whether they know it or not knows someone who has been impacted by sexual violence.”
She herself is conflicted by the grand jury findings.
“It is really sickening to me and just makes me really frustrated and angry and sad,” she said. “This church is what encouraged me to know God and love and taught me my morals … To hear this, I just can’t imagine the people that are supposed to represent God … abusing you in a horrible, horrible way.”
She said some who have been abused are unable to rely on faith in challenging moments.
“These people can’t even turn back to faith at that point because that is where the whole problem started,” Duffner said. “Faith has helped me through a lot in my life. I just can’t imagine if that same faith, that same institution then abused me. It’s really sickening.”
Haggerty agreed, although she said she didn’t feel priests’ actions or inactions in the pulpit in the wake of these findings are malicious.
“I know that priests are not speaking on their own in the Masses,” she said, adding that some feel they are hated as a group because of what has happened. “Most of the time, it’s just they’re scared of addressing such a scary issue.”
She encouraged them to draw on their courage.
“Don’t make fear-based decisions,” she said. “Decide to act because it’s the right thing to do.”
Haggerty pointed out all of the counter-cultural liberty work the church does in South America with democracy-building and advocating against the death penalty. She said that same conviction can be applied here.
“Don’t be political, be moral,” Haggerty added. “I hate the church when they are more politicians than a beacon of hope.”
Sunday’s event, Duffner said, is about affirmation and justice.
“(I) really believe in standing with survivors and victims and doing everything we can to take action on their behalf.”
Sometimes, incredible good can come from the worst of circumstances.
Haggerty hopes that will occur with this.
“Is this going to happen every 20 years?” she said. “We have a church that doesn’t change things. Childhood sexual abuse is one of the few things we all think is bad.”
She said not addressing it at the local level will not sustain the institution.
“Let’s become a champion (against) sexual violence,” Haggerty said, “and people will likely give you the benefit of the doubt again.”