(Foreground) Fr. Fr. Sinoj Pynadath, HGN, (left) and Fr. Basilio Az Cuc (right) attend the April 19, 2021 Evening Prayer for Protection and Healing at St. Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro. Bishop William F. Medley (center) leads the prayer service. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
That all may know God’s love abides in them
Annual prayer for protection and healing held April 19
BY ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD, THE WESTERN KENTUCKY CATHOLIC
Over the years, people have asked Bishop William F. Medley if he has grown weary of repeatedly saying “I’m sorry” as the Catholic Church seeks to heal and acknowledge “the sin of our institution and the sin of people within our institution.”
He answers that he does – but that “perhaps that’s all the more reason that we must continue to say it.”
Giving his homily at the April 19, 2021 Evening Prayer for Protection and Healing held at St. Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro, Bishop Medley called on the universal Church community to “repent of the wrong and the harm that has been done – in the name of the Church at times.
Over the years, people have asked Bishop William F. Medley if he has grown weary of repeatedly saying “I’m sorry” as the Catholic Church seeks to heal and acknowledge “the sin of our institution and the sin of people within our institution.”
He answers that he does – but that “perhaps that’s all the more reason that we must continue to say it.”
Janice Hendricks, coordinator of the Diocese of Owensboro’s Office of Safe Environment, holds a candle during the April 19, 2021 Evening Prayer for Protection and Healing at St. Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro. ELIZABETH WONG BARNSTEAD | WKC
Giving his homily at the April 19, 2021 Evening Prayer for Protection and Healing held at St. Stephen Cathedral in Owensboro, Bishop Medley called on the universal Church community to “repent of the wrong and the harm that has been done – in the name of the Church at times.”
This annual prayer service coincided with April being designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“We must continue to ask mercy and pardon of God, and to ask mercy and pardon (from) those who were harmed,” said Bishop Medley. “From the parents of those who were harmed. From the siblings of those who were harmed. From the spouses of those who were harmed. From the children of those who were harmed. From the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren of those who were harmed.”
Because one thing the Church has learned, said Bishop Medley, “particularly about the harm of sexual abuse, is that that harm is passed from generation to generation.”
“I don’t think there will be a time that we will say ‘we’ve dealt with that; we don’t have to talk about that anymore; that’s all over; that’s in the past,’” said the bishop. “Because wounds last a long time.”
Referencing the Romans 8:28-32 reading used during the liturgy, Bishop Medley stated that “nothing can separate us from the love of God who loves us, and abides in us.”
“And so, despite the failures of our Church, the Church survives itself as a wounded institution; as a wounded community of people,” said Bishop Medley. “The Church survives because God dwells in the Church.”
He said that the prayer as a Church must be that those who have been harmed “may know that the love of God still dwells within them.”
This annual prayer service coincided with April being designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month.
“We must continue to ask mercy and pardon of God, and to ask mercy and pardon (from) those who were harmed,” said Bishop Medley. “From the parents of those who were harmed. From the siblings of those who were harmed. From the spouses of those who were harmed. From the children of those who were harmed. From the grandchildren and the great-grandchildren of those who were harmed.”
Because one thing the Church has learned, said Bishop Medley, “particularly about the harm of sexual abuse, is that that harm is passed from generation to generation.”
“I don’t think there will be a time that we will say ‘we’ve dealt with that; we don’t have to talk about that anymore; that’s all over; that’s in the past,’” said the bishop. “Because wounds last a long time.”
Referencing the Romans 8:28-32 reading used during the liturgy, Bishop Medley stated that “nothing can separate us from the love of God who loves us, and abides in us.”
“And so, despite the failures of our Church, the Church survives itself as a wounded institution; as a wounded community of people,” said Bishop Medley. “The Church survives because God dwells in the Church.”
He said that the prayer as a Church must be that those who have been harmed “may know that the love of God still dwells within them.”
Originally printed in the May 2021 issue of The Western Kentucky Catholic.
