As a survivor of clergy abuse, I understand how a priest or religious brother can offer a unique antidote to the wounds of abuse, particularly for people alienated from the church, and especially for survivors of abuse by clergy. Doing so, he will become more of himself. That is a daring sacrifice given the rage and risks involved in caring for people who have become alienated from God, and have even rejected Him. It leads a priest to stand in a seemingly impossible breach, quite alone in the middle of an uncomprehending society, with one arm stretched toward the soul who hides within a cringe of pain and the other toward the Eucharist — his very existence a way home as proxy for church and as stand-in for Christ.
The challenges are real because the hope is great. Some priests choose to “wing it” when they encounter a victim of abuse. Others, who are not gifted in this pastoral area, choose not to refer victims to others. The problem is that, despite their best intentions, uninformed priests often re-traumatize victims, who then disappear without reconciliation. Other victims voice reasonable objections but are dismissed as malcontents, and nothing is learned.
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