Survivors praise religious order's change in response to past abuse

By Carol Glatz, Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Additional suffering caused by decades of a religious order's "dreadful response" to survivors of abuse could have been avoided, said a group of clerical abuse survivors.

However, thanks to the initiative and encouragement of Pope Francis and a change in "atmosphere" within the leadership of the Comboni Missionaries, "we are more hopeful than ever that this common journey is heading in a different and healthier direction for all of us and we are committed to walking this road together," the group said in a statement issued jointly with one from the Comboni Missionaries.

The statements from the Comboni Survivors Group and Comboni Missionaries came at the end of a second round of meetings they held March 21-22 in Rome. Members of the group met privately with Pope Francis March 22, and the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors published their statement March 23.

"We have asked for concrete actions for many years from the Comboni Missionaries and we have been met mostly with either silence or doubts about the veracity of our claims," the survivors' statement said. "Many other victims have experienced similar reactions from church leaders."

"This atmosphere of fear and recrimination has started to change for us over the past several months as we have met with and been welcomed by the Comboni Missionaries' leadership, past and present," it said.

Members of the survivors' group and top leadership of the Comboni Missionaries held their first meeting in London, Sept. 13, 2022, after Pope Francis directly intervened on behalf of the survivors. At the Vatican three months earlier, he had met with eight of the survivors, who had told him about their unsuccessful efforts to meet with leadership or to receive acknowledgement of the abuses that took place.

It was during that first meeting in London in 2022 that "we shared our painful histories of abuse and the devastation brought on by the dreadful response we received from the London province when we looked for help," the group said in its March 23 statement. The London province of the order had been "responsible for dealing with our requests for help and engagement over the past 25 years," it said, since their abuse had occurred at the now-closed St. Peter Claver College in West Yorkshire.

But in the latest series of meetings, which included a separate meeting with Pope Francis, "we feel that we were not only heard, but believed by the Comboni leadership, something that has brought us a sense of calm," it said.

"This has been a transformative experience for us, vindicating our search for justice and dialogue as the only path of healing for those impacted by the wrong that was done to us," the survivors said.

However, their statement said, "we look back at all the mistakes and misunderstandings we experienced over the years from the Institute of the Comboni Missionaries and feel a sense of despair at how so much suffering could have been avoided."

"With goodwill and a common commitment to dialogue and action, the frustration and hurt we have carried for so many years can be channeled into making things different not only for ourselves but all those who face similar experiences to us," it said.

The group expressed its deep gratitude for the Comboni Missionaries' invitation to go to Rome "and we see in them allies on the path to healing and renewal. We are more hopeful than ever that this common journey is heading in a different and healthier direction for all of us and we are committed to walking this road together."

In its statement, the Comboni Missionaries thanked the survivors' group for addressing members of its general council and the leadership of the London province, past and present.

"While we too have been impacted by the wrongdoing of some of the past actions of our confreres and cooperators, only recently have we come to fully understand the impact of lasting harm this abuse has caused to the lives of those entrusted to our care all those years ago. We deplore and condemn what happened," it said.

The missionaries' statement said the order regretted the "misunderstandings and missed opportunities" with the survivors' group and the further "harm and hurt" caused to "those who have suffered so much."

"We are truly sorry for the times we have not responded adequately, and we ask once again for forgiveness," it said, affirming a commitment to continue learning from survivors and to "further concrete actions to ease what has been a difficult road for them."

The missionaries thanked: Pope Francis, who also met with them; Cardinal Vincent Nichols of Westminster and president of the Bishops' Conference of England and Wales, who chaired the first meeting in London; Bishop Marcus Stock of Leeds, who has been accompanying and advocating for the survivors' group; Oblate Father Andrew Small, secretary of the papal commission; and everyone who "helped bring us to this moment of grace."