The Church in England and Wales will observe a day of prayer for victims of sexual abuse during Lent, with parishes encouraged to consider using specially prepared Intercessions, a Penitential Act, a liturgy and prayers written by survivors.
The day of prayer, an initiative of the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors, falls this year on the Friday of the fifth week of Lent, 3 April. Resources prepared for use on and in preparation for the day by the Let’s Be Honest group at the bishops’ conference, which includes survivors, includes a Prayer for Healing and Reconciliation, a Service of Sorrow and Acknowledgement of Abuse, and prayers for use in a diocesan or deanery Mass.
Churches are encouraged to prepare well in advance and to make survivors an integral part of that process. “These are liturgies celebrated with not for,” the bishops’ conference’s guidance says. Churches should also ensure that support is available before and during the service, by providing contact numbers or through members of the Diocesan Safeguarding Team.
Parishes are also encouraged to give survivors an opportunity to speak during the liturgy.
The Service of Sorrow and Acknowledgement of Abuse was written by survivors and used by the bishops’ conference when they met for their plenary meeting in Valladolid in Spain last May.
It includes, in an Act of Humility and Penitence, intercession: “For the little ones of our community who have been abused, sexually, emotionally or physically”.
In a Meditation of Acknowledgement of Abuse the parish community is asked to consider, “Are we the kind of people the abused can trust to be with and be listened to?” A survivor then lights the Paschal Candle and the community prays for survivors, their friends and families, and the wider church.
Resources are available online.
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