VATICAN CITY (RNS) — For the first time, victims of clerical abuse, of war and indifference told their stories Tuesday (Oct. 1) in the marbled nave of St. Peter’s Basilica before Pope Francis, prominent prelates and young people representing the next generation of Catholics.
The penitential ceremony occurred during a vigil that opened the monthlong Vatican summit on the theme of synodality, described by organizers as “a new way of being church,” focused on welcoming and dialogue.
A South African baritone singer, who introduced himself as Laurence, described the lasting trauma he has suffered from being abused by a priest as a child. He spoke about the effects the sexual abuse crisis, and its cover-up, have had on the credibility of the church.
“This moment in time, in all its sordid detail, is a part of my physical being and consciousness, and is as present today as it was when it took place, the shocking rape and violation of an 11-year-old child by a grown man. My story is one of many, and it is in sharing these experiences and facing them without fear, that we shed light on this particular perfidious darkness,” he said.
Laurence was one of three victims who gave their testimony to the participants o …