Steve Kymes

| Voice of the Faithful

 steve kymes

prolog at the showing of "Twist of Faith"

            Good evening. I am Steve Kymes. On behalf of my colleagues on the Voice of the Faithful Working Group for Support of Survivors of abuse, the leadership group of Voice of the Faithful, and our friends with SNAP, I want to thank you for joining us here tonight.

           The event began with conversations we have had in our Working Group. We knew well the pain this crisis caused our Church, but we did not know how to soothe that pain. We knew of devoted Catholics who were so stunned by the magnitude of this crisis and its implications that they argued that it must be the product of a conspiracy to destroy the Church, or the construct of a group of opportunistic people in league with greedy trial lawyers. We also heard the words of victims and parents so wounded by the evil done to them and those they loved that they called for the destruction of a Church they viewed as hopelessly corrupt.

              And then we saw the bewilderment of survivors of abuse, and the priests and lay people of our Church who want to make this community whole again, but can only sit in frustration as the extremists continued to lob verbal and legal bombs at each other...and we knew that it was well past time that we attempt to take control of this process. Yes, we are more than a little naive, but perhaps my friend Mary Ellen said it best when she said we were dropping a pebble in the ocean, hoping that the waves of reconciliation would spread from us. So, here we are.

           Reconciliation is about more than talking, it is also about  taking responsibility, and asking for forgiveness. That is another purpose of this evening. We as lay people of this Church carry a responsibility for what has happened to you, the survivors of abuse. So, tonight we also begin the process of seeking forgiveness. I will not engage in empty symbolism by asking forgiveness on behalf of all lay people in our church, they must each do that for themselves, but I can ask forgiveness for me.

           I ask forgiveness for my vacillation when I first heard of abuse in the churches of Southern Illinois and thought it was simply their problem.

           I ask forgiveness for my lack of urgency when I saw priests moved from parishes to distant outposts and assumed that things were under control.

           I ask forgiveness for lack of resolve as I have not demanded accountability, transparency and compassion of the bishops and priests of my Church who have allowed this crisis to bankrupt us financially and undermine us morally.

           To my brothers and sisters who are survivors of abuse, I must ask forgiveness in a special way by acknowledging the times when the shame of the evil done to you in the name of the Church I love caused me such pain I could not look upon your face or open my heart to your story.

But most of all, I ask forgiveness for the times you had to stand alone before the most powerful forces in our Church and society as you sought the compassion and justice you were due.

Know this, you will never again stand alone, because I, a good and faithful Catholic will stand with you.