By Sharon Abercrombie
Staff writer

The United States Catholic bishops have joined in support of April as Child Abuse Prevention Month, providing parishes with resources they can use to help parishioners understand the realities of abuse and the ways it can be prevented.

The resources include school and religious education programs, bulletin inserts, a sample liturgy, prayers, homily topics and Scriptural readings. Information about these resources can be accessed at www.usccb.org/ocyp/resources.shtml.

Marilyn Marchi, coordinator of the diocesan Safe Environment for Children project, said her office has continued its education programs on preventing child abuse. Her training has reached 40,000 children and youth, 2,000 parish/school employees, and over 300 priests and deacons in the Oakland Diocese.

The Safe Environment program is an outgrowth of the U.S. bishops’ document, issued in 2002, entitled “Promise to Protect, Pledge to Heal: Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People.” The charter sets forth a list of norms that dioceses must follow to prevent the sexual abuse of children and teens. It was developed after public revelations that some priests in dioceses throughout the United States had sexually abused children and teens. Much of the abuse had been covered up by Church leaders.

Many of the victims filed lawsuits and received substantial financial settlements.
Mission San Jose Dominican Sister Glenn Anne McPhee, chancellor in the Oakland Diocese, said that between July 7, 2007 and June 30, 2008, eight adults came forward to report that they had been abused in the Oakland Diocese when they were children. All the perpetrators were priests who are now deceased, she said. Since June, two more adults have come forward with reports of abuse as minors.
The diocese is paying for therapy for the victims, said Sister McPhee, emphasizing the commitment to their healing.

The first Saturday of each month, there is a facilitated support group for survivors of clergy sex abuse. It takes place from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at St. Elizabeth School in Oakland.

The support group is part of the work of the “No More Secrets” network of survivors in the diocese. The survivors also initiated the development of a healing garden on the grounds of the Cathedral of Christ the Light. The diocese’s support of the garden included a major financial responsibility for its construction and upkeep, Sister McPhee said.

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