Affiliate News from Yakima WA

We are privileged to pray with the Yakima VOTF members for the release of the names of all clergy and lay personnel with credible allegations of abuse, including the pastor removed in 1997 for abusing two brothers, and to call for the establishment of a safe house for clergy who are a risk to children and vulnerable adults.

If you wish to stand with them in vigil in your local area, you may choose to use the same format as Yakima, using stories of local victims and survivors. An alternative is to use the Stations for Victims & Survivors available on our web pages at http://votf.org/page/stations-cross/9785.

In addition to praying for the Yakima initiative, we offer below the Prayer for Victims & Survivors that is being prayed by our Spiritual & Communal Growth online intercessory prayer group. Please stand in solidarity with us as we pray:

Jesus, by becoming human you have elevated the human body to the dignity of divinity. Sadly, there are among us those whose bodies have been savaged by the very ones who have been called to serve and protect them. These crimes cry out for justice and for healing, and we raise our voices in prayer for the healing of our brothers and sisters. We acknowledge that by our silence and our blindness we are complicit in these crimes and sins, and we ask for forgiveness.

Lord Jesus, during your life on earth you were known as a healer of bodies, minds and spirits. Send your healing Spirit upon these brothers and sisters of ours that they may begin to experience some light, peace and joy in this life. Pour your Spirit of peace into the hearts of their families - parents, brothers and sisters, spouses and children - that they may recover a sense of your presence in their lives. And make us all more sensitive to the need to protect our children from those who might harm them that your Body here on earth may be made whole to the glory of God.
Amen.