Ritröð Guðfræðistofnunar - 01.09.2011, Page 19

people and trusting in our capacity as faith communities to see, hear and
speak about this evil within our churches. We need leaders who are not
afraid to use their power, authority and resources to lead us through this
time of turmoil and uncertainty.
Judy Beals, a Boston activist working for many years to address sexual
abuse, describes the challenge:
The turning point in every social justice movement occurs when the aut-
hentic leadership of survivors is met with the genuine commitments of our
most powerful social institutions. The result, inevitably, is the strengthening
of existing systems that work and the continual development of new inn-
ovations, protections, and partnerships that we have yet to even imagine. If
there is any silver lining to the recent tragic events, it is the opportunity to
channel public outrage into lasting structures and commitments that will rid
society of sexual violence. If we fail to do this, the shame is ours.
Ms. Beals is correct in her assessment. We, as members and leaders of
our churches, have an opportunity to change the church — not only to
address this current crisis but also to prevent its reoccurrence in the future.
The prophet Jeremiah reminds us:
Cursed are those who trust in mere mortals and make mere flesh their
strength, whose hearts turn away from God. They shall be like a shrub in the
desert, and shall not see when relief comes. . . . Blessed are those who trust
in God . . . They shall be like a tree planted by water . . .(Jeremiah 17.5-8)
We are called to trust our faith and to trust God and to challenge the
institutional church to do the same.
1 The dassical version of the Hippocratic Oath is from the translation from the Greek by Ludwig
Edelstein. FromThe Hippocratic Oath: Text, Translation, and Interpretation, by Ludwig Edelstein.
Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1943.
The modern version of the Hippocratic Oath was written in 1964 by Louis Lasagna, Dean of the
School of Medicine at Tufts University.
2 Judith Herman, Trauma and Recovery (Basic Books, 1992) pp.7-8.
3 Michael Powell and Lois Roman, „Roman Catholic Church Shifts LegaJ Strategy," Washington
Post, May 13, 2002, p. A01.
4 http://www.worldwidewebyachtclub.com/rules.php
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