Homily by Fr Eugene O’Hagan on the Day of Prayer for Victims and Survivors of Abuse

Homily 7th March 2025

Day of Atonement and Prayer for Survivors of Abuse

Fr Eugene O’Hagan

The scriptures proclaimed at Mass today, on this first Friday in Lent, emphasize the importance of penance and the sincere expression of sorrow for one’s sins. The tone of the first reading from the prophet Isaiah is accusatory. The prophet accuses those who claim to be following authentic religious practices of hypocrisy. By contrast the psalm, Psalm 50, acknowledges, “My offences truly I know them: my sin is always before me”.

It is no accident then, that in response to Pope Francis’ request for local churches, like Down and Connor, to designate a Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse including the families of those who have been abused, dioceses and parishes across this island have chosen today, with the powerful scripture readings of the First Friday in Lent, to collectively hear and acknowledge the accusatory tone of the prophet Isaiah and, in the spirit of the psalm, to repent for individual and institutional failures in protecting people from all forms of abuse. The Candle lit at the beginning of today’s Mass, is a reminder of the need for atonement, repentance, and for the light of hope amid the darkness that survivors have experienced and that some, sadly. continue to experience.

Our Bishop, Bishop Alan McGuckian, whom I have the honour of representing at this Mass, has, this morning, released a video message on the diocesan website and other social media platforms as his personal reflection and contribution to the call for us to pray for forgiveness from God and the healing of mind, body and spirit of those who have been abused by clergy and men and women in consecrated, religious life . I take this opportunity to quote Bishop Alan, particularly for those who have not had the opportunity to immediately access his online message:

The church invites us to pray often for the intentions of the victims and survivors of abuse and that we should unite in fervent prayer on the first Friday of Lent. We know that the abuse of a child can be a wound to the very soul of a person, impacting their ability to trust, to trust other people, to trust in the world. The consequences can last for a lifetime. As a church leader, I have to acknowledge that when the abuser of a child is someone who represents the Church, they put at risk a person’s ability to trust in God and experience the love that God has for all his children. There is a terrible ripple effect with abuse. It wounds, first of all, the innocent child, but then the poison goes on to cause untold harm to their family.

In time, the family of the abuser and the wider community are dragged into the web of shame and confusion that this awful behaviour creates. Child abuse is a terrible crime with many victims. Today I invite everyone to pray earnestly for our brothers and sisters who have experienced abuse as children. We ask our loving God to give everyone wounded by this scourge the healing of heart and peace of mind that they long for. We place them in the loving heart of Jesus.

Significant though they are, today is not the time or place to focus on the many proactive steps that have been put in place in our parishes and diocese to ensure that the abuse and failures of the past are not repeated.

Today’s focus is on those of you who have been abused and are present or who join us online or who are aware of this Day of Prayer for Survivors of Abuse and who continue to carry the scars and memories of a trust that was betrayed and a human dignity that was violated. The presence at this Mass of safeguarding representatives from other Christian denominations, from our Diocesan Safeguarding Office and counterpart colleagues from civic society, which include the Health Trust, the Safeguarding Board for Northern Ireland, the Probation Board, PSNI and the counselling bodies of Towards Healing and Towards Peace, are not here to be thanked rather, they are here to assure you who have been abused of the supports available to you . You, the abused, are the focus of today’s prayer and liturgy of sorrow and regret.

For years you kept your experience and your story to yourself thinking no one would believe you. Now you have a voice, a loud voice and on behalf of the diocese I encourage those of you, who have not already done so but above all when the time is right for you, not to be afraid of contacting the diocesan Safeguarding Office or the PSNI if you have been abused.

In addition, there are currently two Northern Ireland Executive commissioned inquiries that seek to record any experience of abuse by a representative of any faith-based Institution, including the Catholic Church, that inquiry is called the Historical Clerical Child Abuse Inquiry and secondly, the Truth Recovery Programme seeks to obtain testimonies from those who can speak authoritatively about their personal experience of Mother and Baby Institutions, Magdalene Laundries, and Workhouses.

I know that is quite a lot of information to absorb but information and details about both enquiries and the contact details relevant to them can be found below.

On behalf of Bishop Alan, I strongly urge anyone who wishes to engage with either enquiry to contact officials either through the links on our diocesan website or, of course, directly with the commissioned bodies.

Last, but not least, Pope Francis, whose medical condition remains complex and for whom we pray daily, has designated this Jubilee Year, 2025, as a year of Hope. He invites us all to be Pilgrims of Hope. In that spirit, we pray today that all those who have experienced abuse, and their families who have similarly experienced the ripple effect of abuse, may have the courage and strength to place their trust and hope in God.

Historical Clerical Child Abuse Inquiry
Independent Panel Truth Recovery NI