Hope.
That’s what Bradford native Jim VanSickle took away from the Vatican’s clergy abuse summit he attended last week in Rome.
“This trip has become the beginning of a mission and not the end,” VanSickle told The Era on Thursday. “The Pope said many good and bad things, so I remain hopeful.”
Pope Francis called for an all-out war against the clergy abuse of children, but before the summit began, he also said people who make accusations against the church “are related to the devil.” Abuse survivors like VanSickle were left confused about the seemingly mixed message.
VanSickle, now a Pittsburgh resident, attended Bradford Central Christian School in the 1970s and 1980s. There he was abused by soon-to-be-defrocked David Poulson, then a young priest and teacher.
In the aftermath of the summit, many were left puzzled by the lack of a specific action plan to combat abuse.
“This summit has proven to me that the Roman Catholic Church is not ready to admit fully this crisis,” VanSickle said. “They are still looking to minimize and deflect the claims of so many children of God who have been devastated by members of the clergy.”
He came out a year ago as an abuse survivor, and has maintained his faith while he advocates for abuse survivors around the world.
“I want the faithful to know, do not lose your faith,” VanSickle said. “Actually, I encourage you all to fight for your faith.
“The church has made victims/survivors the enemy and we are not,” he added. “The enemy is within the Catholic Church.”
VanSickle has been urging the church to follow the sacrament of confession — “Confession, responsibility, accountability and transparency.” He said the same in a letter he gave to a papal staff member at the Vatican, in hopes the message would be seen by Francis.
Speaking of himself and fellow victims, VanSickle said urging the church to expose the abusive priests to be held accountable for their actions is doing God’s work.
“God is working through us to cleanse His church,” he said. “We have to be up to the task. We must do this with a positive message.”
VanSickle cautioned against painting the entire Catholic Church and faith in a negative light.
“We cannot generalize the church as a whole. There are good people in the church clergy.” he said. “They are as afraid as I was, to come forward to express themselves. There is no incentive at this point for anyone on both sides to come forward.”
Coming forward to stand up for victims and survivors takes strength and faith.
“So many attach faith to man because we can see them,” VanSickle said, adding that is misguided. “Faith is believing in the unseen.”
He reiterated that the Vatican summit was not the end of his quest to see justice.
“I am encouraged and will be doubling down on my efforts to expose criminals, expose people who hid these deeds, continue to reach out to support victims/survivors, continue to reach out to the faithful, being vocal in Statute of Limitations reforms and finally continue to pressure the church and the Pope for answers,” VanSickle said.
“Change takes time but for many of us, time is all we have.”
He ended with a message for his hometown: “Bradford has been a wonderful support as I have struggled this past year — thank you all.”
