An initiative to give spiritual accompaniment to survivors of clerical sex abuse has been set up in Ireland.
Towards Peace was launched on May 25 in Cork with a Mass of healing and reconciliation.
The initiative seeks to help survivors re-engage with their faith.
It is being rolled out regionally in Ireland over the next few months.
It aims to provide a “spiritual companion” to accompany an abuse victim in a healing journey.
Another goal is to help survivors find forgiveness for the institutional Church for its failings.
Requests from abuse survivors in Ireland saw the Towards Peace service set up, chair Una Allen said.
Marie Collins, a member of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, said she wished the initiative well.
But The Tablet reported Ms Collins warned it should not be used “to pull people back into the Catholic Church”.
Ms Collins, who was abused by a priest when she was a teenager, said the spiritual companions must include some lay people.
This is because some victims of sexual abuse by Church personnel may not be comfortable being accompanied by a priest or religious, she said.
Bishop John Buckley of Cork and Ross said survivors had “suffered terribly and their suffering was compounded by inadequate responses over the years by the Irish church”.
He said he believed the survivors were now “very happy with what we are trying to do for them”.
The bishop said that was shown by the good turnout at the launch despite European Parliament elections and a sports game involving a local team.
However, he acknowledged that some survivors are unhappy with the new service because it is a Church initiative.
Towards Peace is backed by the bishops (ICBC), the Irish Missionary Union and the Conference of Religious Superiors (CORI).
Last week, Pope Francis announced he will meet a group of clergy sex abuse survivors.
Some of these are expected to be from the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Sources
- The Tablet
- Irish Independent
- Image: BBC