Activism – Page 96 – Hear Our Voices

August 4, 2016August 4, 2016

How to Prevent Suicide in Clergy Abuse Victims

By Jennifer McGregor*

In recent years, the Vatican released its records of sexual abuse punishment, revealing an alarming 3,400 cases since 2004. Of course, these are only the offenders who were caught. The actual number of abusers and victims remains unknown, often leading the victims to depression, addiction, and suicidal thoughts.
Children who suffer from any form of abuse have a much greater risk for addiction, and with such startling revelations brought to light in recent months, it’s a good idea for every family to be aware of helpful steps to take to minimize the negative consequences if abuse has occurred in any situation. If you suspect a child has been abused or know a child who has been victimized by a clergy member or any trusted adult, here are a few ways to help the child cope and reduce the risk of suicide.

Seek Therapy

Overcoming something as traumatic as sexual abuse, particularly by a trusted individual like clergy members, is not something easily done. Victims of abuse need counseling with a trained professional, preferably one with experience with this brand of abuse. It will take extensive knowledge of the human mind, trauma, and how it affects a person as they age to mitigate the negative effects of the abuse.
Common results of childhood trauma are mistrust of adults, increased risk of addiction and suicide, PTSD, and depression. A good treatment program has the potential to eliminate many of these consequences.

Monitor Addictive Substance Use

If you know a child or an adult who has been sexually abused by a clergy member – or abused in any circumstance by a trusted adult, recently or in the past, it is important to observe their use of substances like alcohol, nicotine, prescription drugs, or illicit drugs. The risk of a childhood abuse victim becoming an addict is much higher than their peers, meaning at the first sign of overuse, help is needed. What’s more, these risks exist even decades after abuse has occurred, with some victims turning to drugs or alcohol later in life.

Offer Healthy Outlets

The reason addiction and suicide are so common in childhood abuse victims is the need to escape from the trauma. Victims use substances or more drastic measures to forget about the abuse they suffered and rid themselves of the effects of that abuse. With this in mind, it is important to provide healthy outlets for beneficial forms of escapism and healing.

Some good options include yoga, meditation, and gardening. Yoga combines the benefits of exercise (endorphins, physical wellbeing) with the mental benefits of a meditative practice (silencing the mind). Meditation offers similar benefits with more focus on relaxation and serenity.
Gardening has been shown to be extremely beneficial in many ways. By tending to plants, people feel useful and excited when their plants flourish.

Preventing suicide in abuse victims can be a complex task. It should not be taken on by loved ones alone but rather should be undertaken with the assistance of a therapist. The love and support of family can mean the world but even the most supportive family cannot always undo the emotional damage that has been done. Let the counselor work on the mental side while you and your other loved ones focus on positive outlets and prevention of addiction.

*Jennifer McGregor

has wanted to be a doctor since she was little. Now, as a pre-med student, she’s well on her way to achieving that dream. She helped create PublicHealthLibrary.org with a friend as part of a class project. With it, she hopes to provide access to trustworthy health and medical resources. When Jennifer isn’t working on the site, you can usually find her hitting the books in the campus library or spending some downtime with her dog at the local park.

July 20, 2016July 20, 2016

The Catholic Church in Scotland wants to help tackle homophobia in schools

By Kaitlyn Hayes

The Catholic Church in Scotland said they will support the Time For Inclusive Education campaign.

The Catholic Church in Scotland has indicated that they will help in the fight to curb homophobia in the classroom.

Time For Inclusive Education (TIE), a campaign for LGBT-inclusive education in Scottish schools, has said that the Catholic Church in Scotland is willing to help them in their mission.

TIE have been working to introduce teacher training in schools across Scotland to tackle homophobia in the classroom.

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Catholic Church said, “The Church is working with the Catholic Head Teacher association to ensure that all teachers have adequate knowledge, understanding, and training and feel confident in addressing all aspects of relationships education, including LGBTI matters, in an appropriate and sensitive way.”

The campaign has already received the support of a host of cross-party politicians; including Scottish Liberal Democrats leader Willie Rennie, co-convener of the Scottish Green Party Patrick Harvie and Conservative MSP Oliver Mundell.

SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon launches the Scottish National Party manifesto at the Edinburgh International Climbing Arena, EICA Ratho, on April 20, 2015 in Edinburgh, Scotland. Although Labour have rejected a coalition with the SNP, Sturgeon is expected to unveil policies that could lead to a power-sharing deal.

During a parliamentary debate following the massacre in Orlando last month, party leaders vowed to act swiftly on the campaign’s calls for LGBT inclusion.

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also reaffirmed her support for the TIE campaign at the debate saying: “I don’t want to live in a country, yet alone be First Minister of a country, where any young person has to feel that, somehow, because of their sexual orientation or gender identity, they are subject to judgement or made to feel in any way less than any other individual in our society.

“I have given a commitment to working with the campaign for inclusive education.”

The Catholic Church’s support comes after the Church of Scotland voted to allow ministers to be in same-sex marriages in May, and also after homophobic stickers were found around Glasgow late last month.

Complete Article HERE!

July 16, 2016July 16, 2016

Methodists defy ban and elect first openly lesbian bishop

By Erin Rook

The Rev. Karen Oliveto, right, is the first openly gay bishop in the United Methodist Church.

The Western district of the United Methodist Church elected its first openly gay bishop Friday night, bucking the denomination’s ban on same-sex relationships.

The Rev. Karen Oliveto, who is a pastor at Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, was elected at a meeting of the church’s West Jurisdiction in Scottsdale, Arizona. The inclusion on LGBT members in church life has been a contentious issue in the 12.7 million-member denomination, with districts divided over what the church’s policies should be.

Eliel Cruz-Lopez, executive director of Faith in America, told LGBTQ Nation that Oliveto’s election is “historic” and has implications beyond the United Methodist Church:

The United Methodist Church is the second largest Protestant denomination in the United States. Last night, they became the largest Protestant denomination with an openly gay Bishop. In electing Rev. Karen Oliveto, the Western Jurisdiction of the United Methodist Church performed civil disobedience against the world church. This is historic. It’s also an act of spiritual protest against a homophobic policy that denies openly LGBT clergy from ministry. This election shows the UMC is changing and that the Holy Spirit is moving the church towards justice.

The Reconciling Ministries Network echoed that sentiment, calling Oliveto’s election a “historic moment” in the movements for LGBTQ spiritual and civil equality:

The election of Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto of Glide Memorial United Methodist Church in San Francisco, CA breaks through anti-LGBTQ law in The UMC and carries queer people to the highest levels of church leadership. Officially barred from so many churches and positions of spiritual leadership, queer persons may now see themselves as leaders of the body of Christ in the largest mainline protestant denomination in the United States.

Officially, the church explicitly forbids gay, lesbian, and bisexual people from being church leaders. It’s laws say:

The practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching. Therefore self-avowed practicing homosexuals are not to be certified as candidates, ordained as ministers, or appointed to serve in The United Methodist Church.

In fact, being “a self-avowed practicing homosexual” and officiating a gay wedding are both chargeable offenses, listed among such disturbing acts as child and sexual abuse.

But some church districts are rejecting that law, allowing both LGBT clergy and same-sex church weddings. The Reconciling Ministries Network says Oliveto’s election is a sign that times are changing:

A 40 year movement to end codified discrimination against LGBTQ persons is reaching a tipping point that hardly any rational-minded observer can deny. Since LGBTQ people have long been denied access to public spaces, homes, and churches, today’s news represents the breaking down of a long-standing barrier that has prevented queer people access to the fullness of Christian vocation on the grounds that they are “incompatible with Christian teaching.” It seems that unjust policy is finally subject to the winds of the Spirit.

Due to the church’s clear policies, it’s likely Oliveto’s election could face challenge or reprimand.

Complete Article HERE!

July 6, 2016July 6, 2016

Deep pocketed interests denied justice to church abuse survivors

By Sister Maureen Paul Turlish

child sex abuse

I have said it before and I will say it again:

Accountability and transparency for the crimes of childhood sexual abuse today and in the future absolves no one from the accountability and transparency for the sexual crimes committed against children in the past.

Deep pockets denied the rights of all those who were sexually abused as children.

Their right to access justice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania was denied them by groups that had much to lose; the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, the Altoona-Johnstown Diocese along with the other Pennsylvania dioceses as well as the insurance industry and and several business lobby groups.

Mostly, however, the opposition to the retroactive measure, statute of limitation reform, was led by Archbishop Charles Chaput, by way of the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference which he leads, and the heads of the Pennsylvania dioceses who dutifully follow orders.

And why? Is it money? Hardly.

Keep in mind that about $10 million dollars has been spent defending Msgr. William Lynn.

One can only guess at how much the public relations firm and the lobbyists from the Pennsylvania Catholic Conference are costing [the church]. That will likely never be known.

Then what is it?

It’s the fact that the bishops, the members of the hierarchy, will continue to do whatever they have to do, and what they have done for decades if not centuries.

And that is to do whatever it takes to protect a powerful institution and its secrets.

The safety and protection of the most vulnerable, the children, was never their priority regardless of the words of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Complete Article HERE!

July 2, 2016July 2, 2016

UNITED METHODIST CHURCH MOVES TOWARD ACCEPTING HOMOSEXUALITY WITH NOMINATION OF 3 GAY BISHOPS

BY KELLY FRAZIER

BenjaminHutchison — Openly gay Rev. Benjamin Hutchison was forced to resign from his position in the United Methodist Church in 2015.

THE NOMINATION OF THREE OPENLY GAY MINISTERS GOES AGAINST THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH’S RULES ON HOMOSEXUALITY.

Three ministers of United Methodist Church, Rev. Karen Oliveto, Rev. David Meredith and Rev. Frank Wulf- have been nominated for Bishop posts in the church. All three are openly gay. This development has escalated the ongoing debate taking place in the denomination over the LGBT issues. It also directly challenges the official prohibition concerning homosexuality.

The three ministers were nominated in early June as candidates for the UMC Bishop position in two dissimilar Methodist jurisdictions. This happened even as UMC’s Book of Discipline condemns homosexuality. It also bans any ordination of any self-avowed practicing homosexuals. The three gay ministers are among 54 candidates in the competition to fill 15 vacant positions as bishops. The inclusion on the ballots will be done through a number of jurisdictional elections held all over the US in the week of July 13. This is not the first instance where a gay candidate has enjoyed nomination. Wulf himself was nominated once before, as per the Executive Director of Reconciling Ministries, Matt Berryman. There is no doubt about the progressive momentum this time following the Portland-held General Conference of the United Methodist Church.

According to Berryman, an increasing number of annual conferences are declining to comply with Book of Discipline, and open ordination to LGBT people and also the passing of resolutions which affirm God’s image in transgender people. The actions build on the pivot which was implemented at the General Conference. In the United States, the United Methodist Bishops get elected by the five jurisdictional conferences of the denomination. Similar to the international General Conference, the jurisdictional conferences usually meet at intervals of four years. Many LGBT rights advocates hold the belief that it is the ideal time- and the first time ever- that conditions are right for an LGBT candidate to be a bishop. There is an excellent chance that an LGBT bishop will be installed in the North Central Jurisdiction or the Western Jurisdiction of the church. The situation was extremely unlike even a few years ago. Even though a substantial portion of American Methodists are supportive of same-sex marriages, a conservative delegate coalition from the US and other countries have repeatedly blocked the required votes at the denominational meetings. This action stops the formalization of this sentiment in the doctrine of the church. Candidates, for their part, can nominate themselves. Many of them are nominated by other groups before the jurisdictional conferences.

Complete Article HERE!