Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Parent Committee

 

 

 

CCSP adopts Healing Statement and Prayer

 

At its 9 August meeting, CCSP adopted the following Healing Statement and Prayer based on the 2019 NAIDOC Week theme: Voice. Treaty. Truth. Lets work together for a shared future.

In response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and following revelations of abuse perpetrated on children by members of the Catholic Church, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee of the Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT (CCSP) and the CCSP Council itself stands in solidarity with all those in our Australian communities whose lives, spirits and hearts were broken by persons in whom trust was placed for their spiritual and temporal care.

As Pope Francis has said of child sexual abuse: “The inhumanity of the worldwide phenomenon becomes even more serious and more scandalous in the Church, because it is in contrast with its moral authority and its ethical credibility.”

In addressing the needs of victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, we draw on this year’s NAIDOC Week theme of Voice. Treaty. Truth. Let’s work together for a shared future, to call for:

• Voice – that those who have been silenced find the courage to speak out, and, for the rest of the Australian community to have the courage and compassion to listen.
• Treaty – that true reconciliation may be forged out of genuine efforts and actions that recognise Aboriginal sovereignty by returning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples their connection with the land and sea, and their dignity.
• Truth – that victims and survivors of child sexual abuse are not only listened to but believed, and that the truth of the oppression and injustice that have been inflicted on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is acknowledged and acted upon through heartfelt and meaningful redress.

For all those who have had their lives damaged and for all those whose loved ones have suffered at the hands of our Church, we pray:

Merciful God,

Bring healing to all members of the Australian community, both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and Non-Indigenous, who have suffered as a result of the sinful and criminal actions of others – whether sexual abuse itself or the failure to act on reports of sexual abuse. We ask that you bring healing to the lives of victims and survivors and their loved ones, many of whom have been silenced or ignored. May their experience of betrayal and neglect be healed by your unending love and may we genuinely support this mission of healing through our nurturing of and care for those whose suffering continues to this day.

We ask that the Church will take the necessary steps to right the wrongs of the past and to instill a culture that will no longer tolerate the abuse of innocent children and vulnerable adults.

May we stand in solidarity with victims and survivors. We strive for an Australian community that is reconciled with you, the Church, and with one another. May we work together for a shared future.

We make this prayer in Jesus’ name. Amen.

 

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