Companions in Hope
The Real Treasures
The Real Truth-Tellers
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The Real Treasures by Name are Listed at the bottom of our Site Map.
"Oddly enough, and I learned later in life, I was to feel something that was consistent with this type of abuse. When I saw other kids in Fr. V's room I got a little jealous. That didn't last Later I began to feel good about it, knowing it was somebody else's turn and not me. Boys going up to his room was like a revolving door. His appetite was insatiable! Click on the image to read this account. (Posted on October 2 2009)
"She taught me how the Eskimos kissed. A few days later, she showed me how the Americans kissed. A few days later, she taught me how the French kissed." Click on the image to read this account. (Posted September 23 2009)
At age five, 1954, "the Bishop" (Card. Stritch) stood over me and said, "Stop babbling about what Father Horne did to you." It took me 40 years to talk about it again. Click on the image above to read this account. (Posted September 24 2009)
"Rodriguez said he was sent for residential psychological treatment at St. John Vianney Center in Pennsylvania and forced out of the Illinois diocese in 2006 after telling his superiors about the abuse." Click on the image to read this account. (Posted September 2 2009)
"I had a lot of behavioral problems back them. I know the source of my alcoholism and drug abuse is directly related to the abuse, but also the fact that my first sexual experience was first with this priest. The first drink of alcohol I ever had was with this priest. And being a young, impressionable teenage kid, I knew it was wrong but it seemed it was okay, because Father said it was okay. And so I remained in a state of denial about my own abuse, and tried to do normal things with other kids. I never felt like I connected. I never felt like I belonged anywhere." Click on the image to read the full account. (Posted September 2 2009)
"I told him to stop and tried to push him away and get out of the bed. He grabbed me firmly and tightly and told me very sternly to stop. He asked me something like, 'Where are you going to go? I am not trying to hurt you. I've got your best interest at heart and there ain't a soul in the world that would believe I would put you in any position not good for you'." Click on the image to read this account. (posted on September 1 2009)
"I lost my innocence that night. I did not even know it was possible for a man, let alone a priest, to do that to a young boy. There is nothing more innocent than a child. He had led me down this path by gaining my trust. I felt violated ever since." Click on the image to read this account. (posted July 21 2009)
"I too have a familiar story about how I was taken under the wind of a Catholic priest during my high school years, about how my parents were so proud that their son was looked upon so favorably by such an icon in the west side Cincinnati neighborhood, and how one day the trust and admiration I had for my priest were used against me in the name of his own perverted sexual gratification." Click on the image to read this account. (posted on June 19 2009)
"I am a mother of a victim of sexual abuse by two Brothers of the Catholic Clergy. This also makes me, my husband and daugher victims as well. By this I mean that for 38 years we as a family couldn't understand our loved one, our son, who acted the way he has." Click on the image to read this account. (posted on May 18 2009)
"The glimmer of knowing the truth and telling my truth was like a fragile rose seed being planted in my soul; but, because I didn't feel safe with myself and others, speaking more of this truth to myself and others was squelched for more years. However, this was indeed a beginning." Click on the image to read this account. (posted on May 18 2009)
"Two days later, when Becky, Eric's older sister, visited him in the ward, she told him that we hated his idea of God, a vengeful God Who could never be pleased. We viewed him as a loving and merciful God. Asking him if he always felt that way about God, she was surprised at his answer, "No, it all changed when I was twelve". Click on the image to read this account. (posted in May 2009)
"He had been grooming me. He had been building me up and smiling at me and what not, you know. Just when I thought he was the biggest guy in the world next to my dad, he got me in the trailer." Click on the image to read this account. (posted in May 2009)
"For 72 hours, I felt like I was under constant attack. It was relentless. I mean, I felt like I was a prisoner at his house. ....I remember saying in a moment of silence, when I maybe slept for a couple of hours, 'God, is this ever going to end? When is it ever going to end?'" Click on the image to read this account. (posted in May 2009)
"When I left her apartment, I almost walked under a truck. ......But it also became clear that both lawyers were in collusion with the priest and that the children were not their main concern. They were much more concerned about dates, i.e. the statute of limitations. Click on the image to read this account.
"I am a practicing Catholic who is very dedicated to my faith, my religious heritage, and my Church. ..... I am also a survivor of child rape that was committed at the hands of a priest in Kentucky. I will use the word rape because that is what it was. It was not child abuse - that sounds so antiseptic..... I want you to understand it for what it was - rape. Click on the image to read this account.
"The most painful state of being is remembering the future; particularly when it is one you can never have. I sit here and look at these drawings.... I think about what I might have been if it hadn't been for what he did to me." Click on the image to read this account.
"This man of God did the same thing to my mother! This crime that he committed against the both of us, is a crime of spiritual and emotional murder... We were made to feel dead spiritually and emotionally. This in turn made a dreadful effect on our health, both mentally and physically." Click on the image to read this account.
"She was not my ally and I knew that going into it. I has seen her tactics while sitting through my Grandmother and Mother's depositions. Even so, I had no idea how cruel she would be." Click on the image to read this account.
"Most of us would sleep on the floor in the dining room - but one of us would be chosen to sleep in Father's bed with him. Sometimes he would pick the boy to sleep with him, but most of the times we would be asked to choose among ourselves. If we did not make the determination quickly, Father would get upset and tell us to hurry up - often times a flip of a coin would decide the matter." Click on the image to read this account.
"My initial response to this experience was one of nausea and confusion. These were the same emotions I felt when I first heard Cardinal Law explain John Geoghan earlier this year. As the abuse continues over time, young vulnerable victims of priests wonder: "where can I go with this, who can I trust, I am so sad, I'm angry, I don't know where to turn." Click on the image to read this account.
"My name is Tim Fischer. I was raped by a Catholic priest when I was 11. His name was Fr. Norman H. Christian." Click on the image to read Tim's blog.
"I have been sexually abused by Father Coughlin and a big part of myself has been in a continual state of trauma over it." Click on the image to read the story of Eric Zapala, in his own words.
"Father Tim began to counsel me at this time. He told me numerous times that I was incapable of loving. I didn't know it at the time but Father Tim had already started grooming me." Click on the image to read this account.
"I felt trapped. My parents would be horrified to know their failure at marriage put their son at risk to be sexually abused and that the man abusing me was the high school chaplain and beloved priest." Click on the image to read this account.
"When I was a teenager, I was sexually abused by a priest in charge of a youth retreat facility. I was repeatedly incapacitated with medication and communion wine and abused in my sleep." Click on the image to read this account.
"I say to them today: you and your Church have taken 34 years of my life from me, my anguish does not ever end; like an incubus, Paul Shanley still haunts my dreams. And you Bernard, My Cardinal, My Prince of the Church, My Shepherd, My Father in Christ, how long have I hungered at your indifferent door, for a crumb of compassion, justice or mercy? - or even a crumb of simple honesty?" Click on the image to read this account.
"I was abused...and 25 years later I'm still trying to make things right. ..... During this time, I began to develop into two people -- the abused John, terrified and unable to get help, and the public John. I was a leader in my high school, an editor of the school paper, leader of the parish Folk Mass group, an ice hockey player and untimately president of my senior class. I was not some strange kid in the shadows. Any mother in that parish would have been thrilled to have me date her daugher." Click on the image to read the full account.
Recommended Reading :
Unspeakable Damage: The Effects of Clergy Sexual Abuse
by A. W. Richard Sipe
Religious Duress and Its Impact on Victims of Clergy Sexual Abuse
by Thomas Doyle
Also visit our Books, DVDs, and Video Links pages.
If you would like to share your story or that of a loved one, please send to us to:
Companions in Hope
P. O. Box 638
Geneva, Illinois 60134
main@companionsinhope.com
Thank you for your interest and your participation.