Abuse Survivor After Giving His Testimony At Synod’s Penitential Liturgy: ‘It Helped Me To Be Able To Find Compassion’

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Posted on 10/03/2024 8:49:34 PM PDT by ConservativeMind

The penitential liturgy with Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Basilica Oct. 1 opened with testimonies of those who have faced great suffering, among those a survivor of clergy sexual abuse. Laurence Gien, who was 11 when he was sexually abused by a priest in his native South Africa, told OSV News that standing in front of bishops, cardinals and Pope Francis himself, giving testimony about his lifetime trauma, was his way of “just trying to appeal to their better selves.”

The penitential liturgy concluded a two-day retreat for the 368 members of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality, which opened with Mass in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 2 and will run through Oct. 27.

Gien is a successful musician, pursuing his career as a baritone and performing on stages across Europe. Based in Germany, he has sung at the Royal Opera House in Stockholm, the National Theater in Prague, the Istanbul Opera House, performing a wide repertoire.

But the public appearance he made Oct. 1 in Rome was something entirely different. Gien started his testimony by recalling the grim reality of the abuse he experienced.

“Far from Rome, in a small town in Southern Africa, a predator honed in on me … on a beautiful South African morning, he led me by the hand to a dark place where, in the screaming silence, he took from me what should never be taken from any child,” Gien said.

He outlined that for survivors the effects of abuse are “long-lasting,” and the “psychological toll often includes feelings of betrayal, shame, anxiety, depression.”

He stressed that one of “the most heart-wrenching aspects of this issue is the anonymity that often surrounds it,” and that “many survivors remain unnamed and unheard, their stories silenced by fear, stigma, or threats.”

(Excerpt) Read more at osvnews.com ...

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