Are you refering to a local grass roots efforts or one of the national groups such as Voice of the Faithful? VOTF has an agenda other than hleping abuse victims so i could see why a diocese would deny them meeting space.
This question has already been addressed in this thread.
diocese-kcsj.org/content/protecting_children/assistance_for_victims/
I am just looking at it from a different perspecitve.
Here is what I’m saying. Looking at this situation: People were sexually abused by clergy. The people then want a support group. This support group does not meet on Catholic owned property but instead is meeting on property owned by another Church. How does that look to the larger community? What conclusions will someone draw from seeing this situation?I am just looking at it from a different perspecitve.
The diocese in question, has not yet formed support groups for Catholics who were abused by clergy. Support groups are just one service that a diocese may provide and the diocese in the OP stated that support groups would be formed in the future. There is no information about the other services this diocese provides. Virtually all the dioceses in the US are provided some type of services although not every diocese provides the same services. Maybe the diocese, for example, was funding individual counseling rather than support groups. We don’t know.
There can be many reasons the diocese has failed to form these groups from a need for qualified facilitators to indecision about schedule, location, etc. We don’t have that information so it would be uncharitable to attribute only bad motivations to the diocese personnel.
A group of individuals decided not to wait on the diocese. Good for them! They found a place to meet. Great! Now they want to move locations to a Catholic property and have not found one that would give permission. That’s unfortunate but it’s not a big deal. They have thier group, they have a place to meet. If they were meeting on Church property, they would not be receiving any more “care for the emotional and spiritual needs” than they have now.
The OP has not shared what reason the diocese personnel gave for why they could not meet or what facilities they were requesting. Who formed the group? Is there involvement by a group such as SNAP or VOTF that might be considered problematice to the diocese? Maybe the diocese has already experienced support groups gone wrong. Without proper facilitation, these kinds of meetings can result in bad situations for the members and the Church. And, if the OP suggested, the diocese is planning a diocisan sponsored group, maybe they don’t want to be in the position of having to “exit” the “unofficial” group when the “official” group kicks off.
The bottom line is that the needs of these individuals are being met, although not exactly as they would like them to be right now. We don’t know what happened at the diocisan office so we can’t possibly answer the OP “Why does the church exclude ministerial sex abuse victims from holding support groups on church grounds?” to his satisfaction. In most diocese, the support services are readily identified, so the real answer is “She doesn’t”.
We really do not have enough information to answer your questions. There are too many variables that could come into place. Yes, I see a need to minister to all victims of sexual abuse, whether by the clergy, a teacher or a family member. However, whether this ministry takes place on Church grounds or in a more clinical setting is a question of that could involve other variables. For example, if is there someone who is practicing psychology without a liscence? Is the group more of a legal action or social action group? Does the Church allow other groups like AA to meet?
Do you know if the denomination hosting this group has a support group for those abused by their clergy?
I am asking you how it would look to someone who is not Catholic simply looking at the facts I posted. Either answer the question or don’t, but don’t try to convince me my question is wrong.
And I am asking how it would look to an abuse victim of that denomination if they are hosting a support group for catholic abuse vistims but not for abuse victoms of their own denomination. Either answer the question or don’t, but don’t try to convince me my question is wrong
Answer mine first, then I will entertain yours.
my answer is no
So your answer to, "How does that look to the larger community? What conclusions will someone draw from seeing this situation? " is No. Well that is not an answer to these questions. As you have decided that it is not worth considering another person’s point of view I have decided that you are not worth conversing with. Let me know if you’re ever ready to approach others with Christian love and charity.
LOL-you aksed a question-you didnt like the answer I gave so that means I am not conversing with.
I will take up the issue. I believe the key lies in the fact that in our society Catholic-bashing is still acceptable. I do not give one whit for Drawmack’s concern of “how it would look.” Victims of sexually abuse all have similar issues. This narrowing of the focus to just victims of priests is absurd. A better question is why would one not want to *equally *minister to victims of abuse by teachers, scout leaders, parents, etc. I can only think of two reason to narrow the reach of such a “ministry” to priest victims only. One is financial gain, the other to help Satan undermine the priesthood.
Exactly. The idea that catholic Churchs have a larger responsibility to allow meetings of abuse support groups is specious.
I asked questions about how you thought something would look. You answered these questions with the word no. It’s not that I didn’t like the answer it’s that this was not an answer to the question.
That makes sense. I agree that anyone who is sexually abused shows similar issues. For example if someone is sexually abused by someone with a beard, they will probably not like men with beards. On the other hand if someone is sexually abused by someone wearing blacks they will probably not like men in blacks (sorry, I can’t think of a way to avoid the pun please ignore it). So, do you think that possibly those who have been abused by clergy do have a special need in overcoming this standard response of abuse victims which could easily be aggravated by attending Mass? And, who do you think would be best able to handle this special need?
I will not practice armchair psychology, but I doubt there is any one size fits all solution. That is why therapists see clients one on one.
No. Schools teach. Churches minister.
No, groups are groups.
However, whether a specific group or another is appropriate, especially for some serious psychological issue, is a decision best made on an individual basis.No it is not. I thought the context was clear enought for most people to understant, but I will break it down to simpler terms.