Day on Hope and Healing
Press Release
SAINT JOSEPH'S UNIVERSITY TO HOST DAYLONG SYMPOSIUM ON RESPONDING TO THE CLERICAL SEXUAL ABUSE CRISIS
PHILADELPHIA (September 14, 2004). Saint Joseph's University will host “A Day on Hope and Healing: Responding to the Sexual Abuse Crisis," a daylong symposium on Tuesday, October 19, in the Wolfington Teletorium, Mandeville Hall.
Kathleen McChesney, Executive Director of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) Office for Child and Youth Protection, will deliver the Keynote address. She will discuss her efforts locally and nationally in moderating how the Bishops are implementing the provisions of USCCB's Charter for the Protection of Children & Young People, passed two years ago.
Hundreds of lay and clerical parish leaders and educators from the Philadelphia, Camden, and Wilmington dioceses are expected to attend. Additionally, the conference will be available via the web for those who are unable to attend (www.sju.edu/dayonhope).
Organizing the symposium is Gerard J. McGlone, S.J., Ph.D., a Visiting Jesuit Fellow in the Saint Joseph's University Psychology Department, and other lay and Jesuit faculty members from various departments, disciplines and Institutes at Saint Joseph's. Evelyn Brannan Tarpey, coordinator of the Philadelphia Archdiocese's Safe Environment Program, has also assisted in the planning.
Symposium speakers will include a panel of survivors of clerical abuse. Breakout sessions will examine the following topics: trauma and its multiple effects, child development and signs of abuse, collaborations etween the Church, the state and local authorities, preventing abuse and violence, issues of forgiveness and justice for perpetrators and victims, the role(s) of the laity, and understanding the utility of various spiritualities of healing. One unique session will feature a pastoral team from the Boston Archdiocese.
"This is a unique collaborative effort. We are trying to include survivors of clerical abuse, Saint Joseph’s University faculty, faculty from most of the Catholic colleges and universities in the area, folks from the Archdiocese, lay women and men, and local experts," said Fr. McGlone, S.J., a researcher at Georgetown University Medical Center who pecializes in trauma psychology and sexual disorders. "We're attempting to present the various aspects of this tragedy, listen to the responses of everyone, and discuss what we need to do next.”
Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1851, Saint Joseph's University advances the professional and personal development of men and women by providing a demanding, yet supportive, educational experience. One of only 142 schools with a Phi Beta Kappa chapter and AACSB business school accreditation, Saint Joseph's is home to 3,900 full-time undergraduates and 3,400 graduate, part-time and doctoral students. Steeped in the 450-year Jesuit tradition of scholarship and service, the university strives to be recognized as the preeminent comprehensive Catholic university in the Northeast.