The St. Paul Diocese of the Catholic Church recently filed for bankruptcy in the midst of sexual abuse lawsuits. This has been all over the news -- front page for several days.
Anyway, I hadn't thought much about it until I ran into a friend today, and she disclosed that she had been sexually abused by a relative, over many years, as a child. Then she said, "I am Catholic, but now I can't go to church. I am so angry and sick about the abuse, and I can't look at the newspapers without reliving all the nightmares I thought I'd put behind me."
Needless to say, she says she's now in therapy again, after many years of being "ok".
I suspect there are many members of the church who have experienced the trauma of sexual abuse. Do they feel violated and betrayed again, like this friend? How will the church heal these people?
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