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Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
| LOCAL SNAP STATEMENT IN RE:
CARDINAL LAW'S RESIGNATION The resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law is a long overdue step that we hope will bring at least temporary relief to so many victims who have suffered so severely and so needlessly during his tenure. At the same time, we hope it will not cause a false and dangerous sense of complacency. Cardinal Law's resignation should be the first of many who followed the policy of contain and conceal and in doing so, placed the public image of the Church above the safety of children. The healing process for everyone concerned
will be very long and tortuous. For a victim, a number of steps can help
a victim move toward recovery:
However, none of those events, in and of itself, cause or guarantee real healing. We must be cautious about raising false hopes. The crimes and cover ups have gone on for decades and the recovery from these horrors will also go on for years and years. Catholics in Boston and throughout the nation have repeatedly and deeply been betrayed. They must brace themselves for more awful disclosures and for a lengthy and rocky road to recovery. Law's resignation will hopefully reassure Catholics that the determined reform efforts of lay people can, in fact, prevail. It will hopefully prompt Catholics to regard their leaders with considerably more skepticism, which would be very healthy for all concerned. Truly resolving this crisis will require brave lay people and survivors to keep doing what they have been doing: keep breaking the silence, speaking the truth and demanding real change, not just lip service, paper shufflling and public relations. It will require courageous and creative police and prosecutors to keep seeking access to church records and keep pursuing the truth. And it will require continued public and media attention to help expose both individual wrongdoers and broader patterns of wrongdoing that enable molesters to hurt children and get by with it. The sexual abuse of children by clergy, and the seemingly never-ending cover ups of these horrific acts, is like an infection. It can't be partially cleaned out. It must be fully removed and thoroughly cleaned before healing can begin. It is critical full disclosure and the criminal and civil processes already in motion continue no matter who happens to be the appointed leader of the Boston archdiocese or any other diocese. Law is merely a symptom and a symbol of a much more pervasive and deep-seated clerical culture and systemic dysfunction among the ecclesiastical leadership that is massive in scope. We believe and hope that public, media, prosecutor and parishioner attention will soon be focused on so many other Bishops who have done what Law has; to include the Bishop of San Diego. We hope that the church will emerge from
this crisis a safer, stronger, and healthier instution, thanks to the courage
and persistence of the wounded men and women who overcame their childhood
victimization enough to help purge the church of these criminals. .
Local Contact:
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