O'Malley preaches for forgiveness
Published on May 31st, 2006
STONEHAM, MA - As he lay prostrate before the altar, his plain brown-hooded garb spread before his sprawled-out body, kneeling parishioners repeatedly bellowed-out for forgiveness.
Opening a nine-day pilgrimage to Boston-area churches, Cardinal Sean O'Malley, surrounded by St. Patrick's Church Pastor Father William Schmidt and several other clergymen, dropped to his knees, his body laid out upon the polished-floor before the altar last Friday, in a prayers service begging for repentance from those sexually-abused at the hands of fellow priests and Boston Archdiocese officials.
Scores of parishioners from the local Stoneham Catholic Church, themselves kneeling with heads bowed, chanted the "litany of repentance", a prayer that will be repeated throughout the Boston Archdiocese's planned, "Novena to the Holy Spirit".
"Forgive us for the sins against your children...have mercy on us. Forgive us for the loss of life. Forgive us for the damage done to faithful souls. Forgive us for the loss of innocence," the congregation would sorrowfully sing.
Held last Friday night at the Pomeworth Street Church, a handful of protesters had congregated outside of the parking lot area and near the entrance to the building prior to the start of the prayer service.
Silently holding-up signs calling for more action from O'Malley, the handful of activists quietly handed-out pamphlets, some listing former St. Patrick's Parish priests accused of sexually-abusing children.
However, the small gathering remained peaceful before the start of the service, offering the informational papers but remaining silent and non-combative towards those entering the church.
"We are here to stand in solidarity with our abused sisters and brothers for whom Church and prayer became a link to betrayal through the actions of priests and bishops. Our prayers and repentance are not enough," one such pamphlet read, demanding that O'Malley endorse legislation to repeal the statute of limitations for prosecuting sexual offenders, among other things.
By the time the hour-long prayer service ended, all of those activists who had congregated outside of the St. Patrick's grounds had evaporated, with not a single such protester in sight outside the since-darkened parking lot area.
Inside the church, Stoneham native Anna-Mae Arsenault, whose brother had been victimized at the hands of a St. Patrick's Church pastor, was welcomed by O'Malley and Schmidt to reflect on her family's horrific experience.
Stepping to the podium just before the clergymen and parishioners would kneel before the altar and repeatedly ask for forgiveness, the Stoneham native recalled how her elder brother's abuse was continually ignored by police, Archdiocese officials, and church neighbors alike.
"She took things into her own hands. She confronted this priest personally and she was dismissed. She then confronted a law enforcement officer and she was again dismissed," recounted Arsenault, speaking of her mother's futile attempts to help her son.
"It was a period of shame in some ways, not for us, but for my mother," the St. Patrick's parishioner recalled, explaining that her mother became withdrawn from her activities in the church and within the community.
According to Arsenault, her brother would later die after jumping off the Mystic bridge, ending a police pursuit that began in Cape Cod. He had been attempting to leave his lover, and had taken the truck to drive home.
Insisting that her brother never intended to commit suicide, but was instead trying to flee from the pursuing law enforcement officials, the Stoneham native recalled how he died after an agonizing two-weeks in an area hospital, recovering from the wounds he sustained from the fall.
When the depth of the Boston Archdiocese's sexual abuse crisis first started being revealed through a series of Boston Globe articles, Arsenault's first reaction was to cancel her subscription to the newspaper. But she soon learned to deal with her grief, and called out to other victims to do the same.
"It's okay to grieve openly, even though it was a very bad situation. We're all in this together, and we need to encourage those [who suffered] to talk about it. Don't be afraid to speak," Arsenault urged.
"In the days when this began, we were probably people of blind faith. But this crisis shouldn't make our faith any less. Because it's our faith that carries us through. That doesn't mean that you condone everything. But you also don't shun your faith," the speaker would later comment.
During his homily, O'Malley would echo Arsenault's call for other possible abuse victims to come forward. Referring to one Gospel, the Cardinal recounted how Jesus had championed the cause of the suffering.
And according to the Cardinal, those who had been abused at the hands of priests were now part of the group of those who the Church needed to reach out towards, not only to help, but also to ask for forgiveness.
"Jesus said, 'Whoever you do for these, my brothers and sisters who are hungry, who are suffering, you do for me. The suffering are the protagonists in the gospel," O'Malley said.
"There are many survivors of sexual abuse. And because of their suffering, they are Jesus' brothers and sisters. God's wisdom allows us to see them through god's eyes, not as strangers, not as survivors, but as brothers and sisters."
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