The Archdiocese of Chicago to Hold Seventh Annual Mass for Hope and Healing at Holy Family Parish on Saturday, October 20, 2018
Chicago, IL (October 16, 2018) – The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Assistance Ministry will hold the Seventh Annual Mass for Hope and Healing at 11 a.m., on Saturday, October 20, 2018 at Holy Family Church, 1080 West Roosevelt Road, Chicago. Fr. Larry Dowling, pastor of St. Agatha Church, will preside over the Mass. Michael Hoffman and Jim Richter, both victims-survivors, will offer personal testimonies and reflections on behalf of clergy sexual abuse victim-survivors to promote healing and support for all victim-survivors and their families.
“People often ask why I remain in the Church and why I have raised my children as Catholic considering the abuse I endured, and I always share the same answer: my abuser took so much from me, but I wouldn’t allow him to take away my faith,” said Hoffman. “I am thankful that Cardinal Blase Cupich has continued to foster and encourage this vital outreach effort to victims-survivors, their family members and all concerned with healing the wounds of clergy abuse.”
The Mass for Hope and Healing started in 2011 when victim-survivors requested a special Mass so they could support one another and reconcile their experiences with their desire to be part of a faith community within the Church. Each year, victim-survivors collaborate with clergy and staff to plan the liturgy. Attendance has grown to include clergy, victim-survivors of clergy sexual abuse, family members and caregivers of survivors, church lay ministry staff, Catholic school leadership and many others who are committed to the protection and safety of children and youth.
The Archdiocese of Chicago’s Office of Assistance Ministry, part of the archdiocese’s Office of the Protection of Children and Youth (OPCY), provides pastoral care, support and resources to victim-survivors of clerical sexual abuse, and their loved ones, in their journey to achieve psychological, emotional and spiritual healing. Since its creation as one of the first victim assistance ministries in the United States, the Office of Assistance Ministry has provided services and support to more than 400 victim-survivors and their family members.
Hoffman serves as co-founder, editor and contributor of the Healing Voices newsletter where he and other victim-survivors write about restoring their faith from the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual harm they endured when abused – and since their abuse. For more information about Healing Voices, please visit https://thehealingvoicesnewsletter.wordpress.com/.
For more information on the Mass for Hope and Healing, please visit https://protect.archchicago.org/events/hope-and-healing-mass.
For more information on the services provided by the Office for Assistance Ministry, please visit
www.archchicago.org/departments/assistance_ministry/assistance_ministry.shtm.
