Cathoilic priest molest kids for years but they build them a nice garden to make it all better.

The Catholic Church was rocked earlier this decade by allegations of children being sexually abused by priests, with scores of victims filing lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The church was accused of covering up the abuse for decades by sending offending priests to other parishes.

The church wound up paying hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. Some priests went to jail; others resigned. Pope Benedict XVI in July apologized to victims and called the abuse “evil.”
At the garden’s dedication on October 11, Allen Vigneron, bishop of Oakland, once again offered the church’s apology. “To the hurts of so many innocents, we preferred the darkness to the light. And for that, I again make heartfelt apologies to all victim survivors. As it says on the plaques at the entries, ‘We remember and we affirm: never again.’”

Terrie Light, who has been a vocal advocate for abuse victims for many years, says getting the garden built was not an easy process. “We got silence, then we got passed around,” she says.

She said Barbara Flannery, the former chancellor of the diocese who became the church’s point person on helping victims, advocated for the garden to the bishop.

“He thought it was a good idea. But it’s different from ‘It’s a good idea’ to ‘Here’s the people to meet with to make it happen,’” she says. “When we finally met with the architect, things really changed.”

“He really understood what we were trying to accomplish and put together some architects to create this garden that he thought would give us what we wanted for a place for people to come and connect to their spirituality not inside the church.”

Why outside?

“There are people that want to go into a church that cannot. It’s too painful, too emotionally traumatizing,” she says. “There are other people that are ambivalent—that want to be there and not want to be there. This gives them the option.”

The garden is not what survivors had originally envisioned—a lush, English garden with flowers and trees. But they are pleased with the outcome.

“It’s a very simple space,” Light says.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/23/churchabuse.garden/index.html

DM1 - 23 October 2008 10:49 AM

Cathoilic priest molest kids for years but they build them a nice garden to make it all better.


The Catholic Church was rocked earlier this decade by allegations of children being sexually abused by priests, with scores of victims filing lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The church was accused of covering up the abuse for decades by sending offending priests to other parishes.

The church wound up paying hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements. Some priests went to jail; others resigned. Pope Benedict XVI in July apologized to victims and called the abuse “evil.”
At the garden’s dedication on October 11, Allen Vigneron, bishop of Oakland, once again offered the church’s apology. “To the hurts of so many innocents, we preferred the darkness to the light. And for that, I again make heartfelt apologies to all victim survivors. As it says on the plaques at the entries, ‘We remember and we affirm: never again.’”

Terrie Light, who has been a vocal advocate for abuse victims for many years, says getting the garden built was not an easy process. “We got silence, then we got passed around,” she says.

She said Barbara Flannery, the former chancellor of the diocese who became the church’s point person on helping victims, advocated for the garden to the bishop.

“He thought it was a good idea. But it’s different from ‘It’s a good idea’ to ‘Here’s the people to meet with to make it happen,’” she says. “When we finally met with the architect, things really changed.”

“He really understood what we were trying to accomplish and put together some architects to create this garden that he thought would give us what we wanted for a place for people to come and connect to their spirituality not inside the church.”

Why outside?

“There are people that want to go into a church that cannot. It’s too painful, too emotionally traumatizing,” she says. “There are other people that are ambivalent—that want to be there and not want to be there. This gives them the option.”

The garden is not what survivors had originally envisioned—a lush, English garden with flowers and trees. But they are pleased with the outcome.

“It’s a very simple space,” Light says.


http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/10/23/churchabuse.garden/index.html

“Survivors”?
The offending Priests should be beaten to death, but survivors? We’re these Priests killing children too?