Foreword

Líneas Guía de América · Canadá

Foreword

The day I was ordained bishop, 15 August 2002, reporters questioned me about the sexual abuse crisis confronting the Church. The crisis was surfacing in many parts of North America, so I was not surprised, but that day I had no idea of the role that the crisis would play in informing my episcopacy and forming me in my ministry. That formation continues to this day.

On 6 August 2006, I went to a parish to preside at the 11:00 a.m. Sunday Eucharist. At that point, more than forty women had come forward to recount their ordeal of having been sexually abused as children at the hands of their parish priest, now deceased. At his trial a few days earlier, he had pleaded guilty to forty-seven counts of indecent assault. Although he had served in many different parishes in the Diocese of London over five decades, this parish particularly became the epicentre for the crisis. I knew I had to be there with the survivors, their families, and the parishioners.

In my homily that Sunday, I sincerely apologized to the survivors for the abuse they had suffered and for the failure of the Church to protect them from their parish priest. I committed myself as bishop to do my utmost to rid this diocese of the scourge of clergy sexual abuse. That has proven to be a formidable task. Many more victims came forward and many other cases surfaced. I have, however, not been deterred from my commitment. From the beginning, I spoke openly and honestly about the crisis and the damage that had been done by the grave sins and errors of the past.

A video of the homily I gave was shown in all of our parishes the next Sunday. The impact it had on our parishioners was huge. My speaking so publicly about this scandal freed others to talk of their experiences, their anger that it was happening in the Church, and their determination that we do whatever was necessary to bring a stop to it.

The following is a summary of what I have learned from this crisis, how I felt about it, and what action has been taken:

At the parish facing the sexual abuse crisis, I said publicly that I was willing to meet personally with any survivor and any member of her family. Those who met with me told me what it had been like to be abused by someone who, for them, represented Jesus and how they felt when the people who should have protected them, their parents, teachers, other priests, and bishops, did not believe them. Many of them had to carry this pain alone for decades.

The sexual abuse these women suffered had terrible and lasting psychological effects. It was heartbreaking for me to listen to their stories of the pain and the devastation which the abuse had caused in their lives. They had not outgrown the damage done to them as children but were carrying the abuse with them as adults and suffering its horrible effects in their everyday relationships. Because a priest had abused them, their faith was deeply affected. Though some have made their way back to a faith community, many have left the Church and have no desire to return.

One of the key lessons I learned is that the survivors and their families should be the centre of our attention. Our highest priority needs to be our care for them. If we had

listened to them and their cries for justice, many tragic failures of the past could have been avoided.

Those of us in the diocese who deal with abuse cases realize how important it is for survivors to drive the process. Each of them is a unique individual dealing with his or her pain in a unique way. Each individual, however, comes forward expecting that the Church will do everything possible to prevent clergy sexual abuse from ever happening again.

The Diocese of London provides counselling to survivors who request it. In today’s society, justice is ordinarily seen as financial compensation paid to victims for the harm done to them. We have settled with many victims. Some have told me, however, that the money did not bring them the healing they were seeking. The Gospel vision of justice involves healing and reconciliation. My hope is that survivors and their families will be open to reconciliation with the Church.

With each settlement in the past, the diocese and survivors (after) signed confidentiality clauses by which they were bound legally not to speak about the content of the settlement. For many survivors, giving voice to their experience is essential to their healing. Our diocese no longer includes the confidentiality clause in settlement agreements, unless it is requested by the survivor.

In 1989, under Bishop John Sherlock’s direction, the Diocese of London developed a policy for dealing with sexual abuse by priests. The diocesan policy was revised in 1994, following the publication by the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops (CCCB) in 1992 of From Pain to Hope.2 When the crisis came to a head for us in 2006, I appointed

one of our priests to be the bishop’s delegate and announced that he would be consulting the people of the diocese and professionals about how best to develop strategies and safeguards to protect our people and prevent abuse from happening. The Safe Environment Policy3 of the diocese, published in 2008 and updated in 2014 and again in 2016, is the core of our prevention strategies. In addition to outlining our process for dealing with accusations of sexual abuse, it includes a Code of Conduct for priests. Clergy who have abused a minor are permanently removed from ministry. Regularly, when priests, deacons, and lay ecclesial ministers gather, the Safe Environment Policy is reviewed.

Immediately following the conviction of the priest, our diocese met with other community groups to seek their help in providing support to the large number of survivors. Many of the survivors had lost all trust in the Church. We realized that on our own we could not offer them the support they needed at this critical time. If we were to be guided by their needs, we would have to partner with other concerned groups. These discussions led to the project called “From Isolation to Action” (FITA).

A number of community partners participated in FITA, such as local sexual assault crisis centres, the Ursuline Sisters, the Ministry of the Attorney General of Ontario, and the diocese. Its purpose was to enable the survivors to come together as a group to support one another and to give voice to their experiences. FITA had a significant role in the development of the new Safe Environment Policy of the diocese. It helped in the organization of two workshops for all of the clergy and lay ecclesial ministers of the diocese to

raise awareness and educate them about sexual abuse. Three educational posters for the prevention of child sexual abuse were created and distributed in churches, schools, and other institutions. FITA produced a 115-page manual, so that others could benefit from our experience, and made it available to the bishops of Canada and other Christian Churches.

For Catholics, it was once unthinkable that priests would abuse children. This culture of disbelief affected the whole Church. Listening to the stories of survivors, I learned that in many cases they were victimized twice: first by the abuse itself, and then by the refusal of others to believe them. Some were made to feel guilty for making an accusation against a priest, and some believe even years later that they themselves are at fault for having been abused. There is no room left in the Church for this kind of thinking.

It takes great courage for survivors to disclose their abuse. Survivors have taught the Church how to protect our children better. No survivors should be made to feel guilty for having disclosed the abuse they suffered. Our diocese has learned that we need to create an environment which encourages them to speak out. We have also learned that a culture of silence and a false concern for the Church’s reputation must be replaced by an entirely different culture, one of transparency and accountability.

From the priests of the diocese who are living with integrity and who want only to serve the people entrusted to their care, I have learned how much they have suffered and how debilitating this crisis has been for them. Not only have they been embarrassed by the heinous actions of a few, the

actions of these few individuals have caused every priest to be treated with suspicion and their motives to be questioned.

Our diocese has been hit hard by the crisis of sexual abuse. All of our people, including our priests, have had to carry the heavy burden of this scandal. This crisis has changed our Church. It has changed me. I know that if I am to be a good shepherd, I have to be firm in my commitment to do everything possible to bring an end to clergy sexual abuse in our diocese. Our Safe Environment Policy has served us well. For it to be effective, however, all of us have to be vigilant and work together to ensure the safety of our children. With the help of the Spirit, we must strive to be authentic witnesses of Christ’s love, healing, and reconciliation.

The Most Reverend Ronald P. Fabbro, C.S.B. Bishop of London

As Bishop of London, Ontario, The Most Reverend Ronald P. Fabbro, C.S.B., faced and continues to face and live with the sexual abuse crisis in his diocese. He served as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee on the Protection of Minors from 2013 to 2018.