It is a happy Easter morning for the youth in the homes of the Preda Foundation. They wake up to experience a new and better life of freedom. They are now protected and free from fear and abuse. Their dark days of being exploited for sex, of being controlled by an abusive adult, have ended. Today, they are laughing, running about, playing tag and hunting eggs in a safe home, greeting the new day with happiness and freedom.
They, like Jesus of Nazareth, have risen to a new kind of life as they are being healed, becoming stronger and more empowered to overcome the hardships they had endured. They experience their own resurrection, possessing the courage and emotional strength to challenge their betrayer, their Judas.
With faith in Jesus, they believe they could overcome the evil done to them. They overcame the spiritual death caused by the physical, emotional and sexual abuse they suffered. They were betrayed, as Jesus was, by someone they trusted. Their Judas is their parent, a grandfather, a brother or cousin, or a neighbor. They were promised friendship and support but were betrayed and suffered injustice.
Their faith is seen and felt in their resurrection from the tomb of lies, the dark days of hardship and hurt caused by those they had trusted. These children — some as young as 6, both boys and girls — believed they could rise from the emotional death caused by abuse, rejection and victimization.
In their own families, they were not believed. This was their being nailed on the cross; they were jeered, like Jesus was. They were scolded for complaining about the abuse. They were told to stay silent about it, and were threatened with punishment from their abusive parent or relative. This was their crucifixion.
But they trusted in the words of Jesus: “The truth will set you free.” They entered the dark night of the spirit in therapy with their trusted therapists and relived the emotional pain and torture the abuse inflicted, like a crown of thorns pressed on their innocent heads. They cried and loudly challenged their abusers and punched cushions as if they were punching their tormentors. They bravely fought back.
They cry out angrily and release a flood of anguish, their tears streaming as they demand answers: “Why am I suffering and hurting so much? Why are you walking free? Is there no justice in this world? Will your evil deeds go unpunished, just because you are so powerful and I am not? When will I be free? Where is justice?”
During their therapy, the children release the pain and anger over the injustice done to them. Then they grow calm and become rested. They begin to be at peace. In time, these intense emotions would be calmed, and they would become self-confident and resilient, as well as have a desire to fight for justice. They will experience positivity. From that pit of sadness and powerlessness, they will feel empowered, with which they can say: “Yes I can, I will be strong and I will win my fight, for truly, goodness will win over that evil done to me.” This is their resurrection.
That is the faith that can move mountains of evil, as Jesus, the compassionate and wise carpenter from Nazareth, showed us when he became our champion and defender against despair.
We who strive to be his followers and friends must imitate him and be servants of the poor, washers of feet and sharers of our goods with those in need. The forces of evil are still with us, as the final victory has yet to be achieved, and we are called and must answer to be humble friends of Jesus, workers who oppose evil and do good, believing that one day goodness, truth and love of neighbor will triumph. That is faith, and there is no place for compromise or cover-up of the evil of child sexual abuse.
Jesus made it clear where he stood. He called a child to stand before the proud, self-praising disciples and told them that the child was the most important in his kingdom, not them. When you welcome this child you welcome me, he said, and anyone who abuses a child to cause the child to lose faith in me should have a millstone tied around his neck and he be thrown into the deep sea. (Mt 18:1–6)
So here is the message of Jesus of Nazareth, our Lord and savior: do not compromise with evil and do not hide the truth of child abuse and defend or protect a child abuser from accountability before the law. Otherwise, you are part of, and guilty of, being an accessory to that crime.
Good bishops, authorities, priests, prosecutors and judges, let us stop the evil corruption that denies justice for the child victims and protects the credibly accused abuser. Let us choose to do good and oppose evil. Know that our eternal salvation will depend on how we defended the child victims and gave them justice or denied it to them.
Know this. If we bring abusive clerics to stand trial, it will be our greatest, most praiseworthy achievement. Our failure to do so will be the greatest failure of our lives and a contradiction of what we claim to be. Allowing abusers to walk free with impunity is destroying society and the Church, and destroying the lives of hundreds of child victims.
END.
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