IMAGE: CNS photo/David Maung
By Katherine Long
SYRACUSE,
N.Y. (CNS) — In the coming weeks and months, spiritual and physical support
will be offered to those in need thanks to a man who as a child was abused by a
priest of the Diocese of Syracuse.
The
man is a participant in the diocese’s Independent Reconciliation and
Compensation Program for those abused by clergy. Rather than keep his $5,000
settlement, he has used the money to have special Masses offered in every
parish of the diocese and to stock two Catholic Charities food pantries in
Binghamton and Endicott.
“Before
I even was offered anything, I saw this as a possible opportunity to cooperate
with God in trying to bring good from a situation that was not good for a
number of people, both victims and priests alike,” the man told The Catholic
Sun, Syracuse’s diocesan newspaper.
“I
saw this as a chance to try to bring peace and comfort and good news from
decades of strife and anger and sadness,” he said.
The
man recalls being abused sometime between 1986 and 1988, when he would have
been 9 to 11 years old, by a priest known and trusted by his family. He
describes the abuse as “a one-time incident.”
He
asked that his name not be used in making his donations nor in speaking with
the Sun and Binghamton’s daily newspaper, the Press & Sun-Bulletin, because
he has chosen not to share the details of his abuse with many people in his
life.
He
reported his abuse to the diocese in 2008. “I remember writing to the victim
assistance coordinator at the time that I wanted ‘ the church as a whole to
address the problem that was at hand with clerical abuse. And I don’t think any
institution can tackle any challenge as effectively as possible unless they
understand the scope of it and grasp all of the ways it has occurred and how
it’s affected people and who’s involved and the breadth of it,” he said.
“I
felt it was my duty to report it,” he said, not for his sake or the sake of his
abuser, who died several years prior, but “more to empower the diocese and the
church as a whole to have the facts that would be helpful to addressing this
behavior and trying to prevent it going forward.”
He
said the victim assistance coordinator replied promptly with a warm, kind
response. The diocese offered to pay for counseling should he want that, he
recalled, however he declined the offer, not feeling he needed it.
The
man said he was surprised when, 10 years later, he received a letter from the
administrators of the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation
Program, inviting him to submit a claim.
It
was the first he’d heard of the program, so he read up on it. “I didn’t see
anything to lose by submitting the information, so I did,” he said.
In
July, he received from the administrators an offer of a $5,000 settlement. He
executed the agreement and received a check in August.
The
man had no attachment to the money, he explained, and he began to consider what
to do with it.
He
contacted Danielle Cummings, diocesan chancellor and director of communications,
about arranging to have Masses offered, first considering Masses for his
abuser, then for several priests accused of abuse in his native Broome County,
he explained. He no longer lives in the county.
The
man, who remains a practicing Catholic, “grew up putting priests and nuns and
monks on pedestals and believing that they were slightly above human, in
essence,” he said.
“My
experience with one priest and other experiences I’ve had, particularly with
priests and some religious ‘ have reminded me that we are all sinners,” he
continued. “No matter what vows we profess or initials we have after our name
or habits one might wear, we’re all in need of God’s mercy and we had better
forgive one another if we want to be forgiven when we come before God.”
“I
feel very strongly we all have to come before God as we are, acknowledge where
we fall short, and ask for his grace — and intercede for others, including and
perhaps particularly the very priests who abused individuals,” he added.
He
didn’t want to possibly alienate or further anger faithful in the pews at the
mention of these clergy, however. So, coordinated through Cummings, he arranged
to have Masses offered at all 124 parishes in the diocese, each intended for
“local members of the clergy who have abused and for those who have been
harmed.”
Each
parish received a $10 check for this Mass intention and an explanatory letter
from Cummings in early September. Parishes have already begun to celebrate the
Masses as schedules permit.
“To
be able to have a quarter-million people in the diocese praying together for
victims and for their abusers, whether they’re deceased or they’re still with
us — to me ‘ I just can’t imagine a more powerful step forward for everyone
involved,” the man said.
Msgr.
John Putano, regional vicar, told the Sun in an email: “It took a lot of
courage for this person to speak about his experience of being abused. It is a
story of hope and forgiveness — a message we desperately need to hear — with
so many angry and some ready to give up on the church.
“I
was amazed when he mentioned that he wanted prayers not only for the healing of
the victims, but also prayers of forgiveness for the priest abusers.”
The
priest added, “He never gave up on his faith — and while he was deeply hurt —
he saw this as an opportunity to bring something good out of very evil actions
— reminding us all that it is Christ’s mission to bring good news to those who
are hurting and in pain.”
The
man decided to donate the remaining $3,760 of his settlement to Catholic
Charities of Broome County, to be split between its food pantries in Binghamton
and Endicott.
Lori
Accardi, the agency’s executive director, said the donation would be used to
buy fruits, vegetables, and grains for the pantries and that those dollars
would stretch through the end of this year and into the next.
Together,
she said, the two pantries serve some 5,000 people per month; 43 percent of
them are children, 6 percent are seniors.
The
donation “was a gesture that, from great hardship and challenge, was meant to
do great good,” Accardi said. “We are very thankful and appreciative.”
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Long
is editor of The Catholic Sun, newspaper of the Diocese of Syracuse.
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