Who
We are a diverse group of lay people from a number of parishes in Hamilton diocese. We are: lay associates of religious orders; readers, choir members, cantors, eucharistic ministers; some of us bring communion to the sick and shut ins; some are active with Development and Peace, some work with refugees through parish sponsorships. We are truly engaged in the life of our parishes and the life of the Church. What we have in common, is a deep faith in Jesus Christ and abiding love for the church.
Why
In the fall of 2018, in the wake of the report by the Pennsylvania State Prosecutor on clergy sexual abuse and the subsequent decision of His Holiness Pope Francis to convene a summit of the church’s leadership in February 2019, we came together to embark on a process of prayer, reflection and self-education regarding this scandal that was and is rocking the Church. We wanted an opportunity to share with others how the crisis was affecting us, our faith, our families and our friendships. We also wanted to educate ourselves as to what is happening by way of response in the wider church and the diocese of Hamilton. And finally, we wanted to consider how we might support the church- our parishes and diocese- in moving forward in a positive direction toward healing and reconciliation.
What
A small delegation from our group, met with Bishop Crosby In March of 2019 to share with him our concern that more was needed to support ordinary Catholics, whose faith and commitment to the church were being strained by these revelations.
We had heard that St. Clement parish in Cambridge had held a “parish conversation” to talk about the issue and it was well-attended and well-received.
Our recommendation to the bishop was to do some pilot testing of the parish conversation model, ideally in three parishes. With a few parishes, we felt we could obtain a good ‘reading’ of the ordinary people in the pews, allowing us to:
assess levels of interest
identify types of questions and information people need
ensure adequacy of safety planning in the meetings
As expert resources, we asked Father Charlie Jordan, Bishop’s delegate for child sexual abuse allegations, and Rocco Gizzarelli, Executive Director of the Catholic Children’s Aid Society who has knowledge of trauma-informed practice, to assist us in designing and conducting the meetings. In addition to his clinical experience working with sexually-abuse children, we asked Rocco to advise us on making the meetings safe.
Where
Locations of the three pilot were:
the old southwest neighborhood of Hamilton (St. Joseph’s)
the central Mountain in Hamilton (Blessed Sacrament/Sacred Heart).
The proceedings from the parish meeting in Cambridge at St. Clement’s gives us our three samples.
When
The parish conversations took place in January, May, and November 2019. We wanted to complete our report and submit it to Bishop Crosby by March of 2020, one year after we met with him initially. But Covid 19 delayed that meeting. We are now meeting with him in September 2020. We hope to be able to move forward together to help further healing in our diocese and the larger church.
Conclusion
We have now concluded 3 pilots and prepared a report for the Bishop with recommendations. The members of Concerned Lay Catholics (CLC) in Hamilton who have had the privilege of working together to deliver this initiative and to provide our findings to Bishop Crosby cannot express how profoundly this process has affected our own faith. With gratitude and hope, we are reaffirmed in our commitment as Catholic faithful to respond to the call for healing, reconciliation, and transformation. We can think of no more fitting words to close with than those of the Holy Father Pope Francis:
It is impossible to think of a conversion of our activity as a Church that does not include the active participation of all the members of God’s people…whenever we have tried to replace, or silence, or ignore, or reduce the people of God to small elites, we end up creating communities, projects, theological approaches, spiritualities and structures without roots, without memory, without faces, without bodies and ultimately, without lives.