A prayer on the occasion of the Vatican Summit on abuse in the church

We pray to you, Jesus

for those who have been abused and betrayed by church sexual abuse, in its physical, social, psychological and spiritual dimensions,
for those whose testimonies were not believed,
for those who experienced a church of denial and secrecy,

for those whose spirituality has been devastated,
for those still waiting to give their testimony,
and for the ongoing pain of the survivors and their families and friends.

 

We pray to you, Jesus

for the church abuse summit and for the survivors who give testimony, for Pope Francis and the presenters,
for the organisers and the participants;
for the media covering the meeting

and the international community responses to the summit and its outcomes.

 

We pray to you, Jesus

for those who have been implementing
child and vulnerable adult safeguarding procedures,
for those working for genuine and thorough church reform,
and for those working to change the culture of the church
into a culture of responsibility, accountability, transparency, compassion and healing.

 

We pray to you, Jesus,

for wherever church leaders are still in denial within their local and national churches, and we pray for their conversion and genuine reforms.
We pray for church leaders who have been converted by their journeying with survivors, and their efforts to safeguard children and vulnerable adults.

 

We pray to you, Jesus

for the courage and conviction of summit participants
in returning home to their countries to implement agreed upon outcomes locally. We pray that as disciples of Jesus,
we will not leave it solely to them,
but that we will listen and act and advocate and implement together as church.

 

We pray to you, Jesus

for other serious issues of abuse that are not the primary focus of this summit. We pray that the church will hear the cry of survivors
and convene world-wide church summits
and introduce genuine reform concerning those critical issues.

 

We pray to you, Jesus

that we encounter your inspiration and direction,
and be inclusive of the insights of survivors and their families and friends, and those who journey with them,
in our reading of the Scriptures,
in our spirituality,
and in our development of theology.

 

We pray to you, Jesus,
for ourselves, for courage and compassion,
that we will love as you love us.
Amen.

Fr Gerry Hefferan