CLC Statement of Solidarity
With Victims/Survivors

Unimaginable pain has been inflicted on victims of clergy sexual abuse. Victims/survivors tell us that their suffering has been the result not only of the actions of their abusers and church authorities, but sometimes by lay people who don’t understand about trauma and what happens to people who have been sexually abused. Victims/survivors report that they have been shunned and abandoned, that they have been accused by fellow parishioners of “waiting too long to come forward” or “just wanting the money” or “being disloyal to the church.” For this reason, CLC has drafted a statement of solidarity with victims of clergy sexual abuse to express our unequivocal support for victims and our commitment to work as lay people to bring accountability to the church’s leadership and justice and reconciliation for victims/survivors.

CLC’s Statement of Solidarity

•       We stand in solidarity with all victims of clergy sexual abuse.

•       We are moved by compassion to reflect deeply on the suffering of our wounded brothers and sisters and to pray for them always.

•       We make a commitment to educate ourselves and others about the devastating impact of this scandal in our church.

•       We promise to promote justice and healing for victims and their families and for all those injured by this betrayal of our deepest values.

•       We commit ourselves to the transformation of church structures and clerical culture that put protecting the institution above justice for victims and accountability for offenders.

•     We rely on God in all of this, asking that we be sustained in this commitment we have made

(Modeled on the work of Leadership Conference of Women Religious. Used with Permission -Leadership Conference of Women Religious)

Consider adding your name

We know that many lay Catholics feel powerless to do anything when it comes to clergy sexual abuse. If you are one of them, perhaps you might consider signing our statement of Solidarity with Survivors of Clergy Sexual Abuse as a gesture of support - and to show we have not forgotten them.

Click Here to Sign our Statement of Solidarity

Signed:

Keith Jolie - Hamilton

Catherine Pead - Hamilton, ON

Andrea Kelly - Ottawa

Beverly Bronte-Tinkew - Hamilton

Rita Bailey - Hamilton

Joy Warner - Hamilton

Christine Way Skinner

Maureen Harper - Hamilton ON

Gary Warner - Hamilton, ON

Mary Myers -Kingston, Ontario

Susan Roll - Buffalo NY and Ottawa ON

Kenneth Sherman - Hamilton Ontario

John Williams - Ottawa

John Huot - Toronto

Julia Millington - Hamilton, Ontario. Canada

Donna Kerby - Stirling, ON

Teresa Murphy - Dundas ON

Brian Trafford - Vernon, B.C.

John Williams - Ottawa

Mary Myers - Kingston, Ontario

Tom Sagar - Newmarket, On