Since the 1990s, when Jean Wehner started to remember the “sexual torture” she endured as a Catholic high school student, she has sued the Baltimore Archdiocese, written a memoir and appeared in a Netflix documentary about her abuse. But the release last week of a Maryland attorney general’s report citing decades worth of internal church records about her abuser — it all brought a kind of bitter validation, Wehner says, to that terrified little girl.
“I’m my own worst detective as an adult. I was taught by my faith system to be a good girl, not to lie, not to believe something that isn’t true. I’m always still doubting myself and dissecting everything and challenging myself,” said Wehner, 69, now a wellness practitioner in Elkridge. “This puts the detective to rest. The adult me, who has been trying to integrate with this child, can now say: ‘Oh hell yes, I will 100 percent stand up for you.’”..
This statement really hits the nail on the head:
ReplyDelete“These reports are welcome but are a very poor substitute for real justice, criminal prosecution and harsh punishments which are most effective at deterring future coverups, inside and outside the church. . ."
https://nantucket.ma.networkofcare.org/dv/news-article-detail.aspx?id=143627
ReplyDelete"While most of the priests in the report are dead, 10 are still alive and their identities are redacted because they have not been publicly accused before."