Awake Blog
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Holiday How-To: 10 Tips for Talking with Your Family About Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church
Editor’s Note: As we prepare for Advent and the holiday season, we revisit this popular 2021 post designed to help you raise the topic of the abuse crisis while spending time with loved ones. It’s the holiday season,…
What Structural Factors Contribute to Abuse in the Catholic Church?
Editor’s Note: This week we revisit our 2022 interview with Australian researcher Stephen de Weger, who offers his personal story of abuse in the Church and his take on the structural factors that he believes set the stage…
Polyvictimization: Why Many Victim-Survivors of Church Abuse Have Suffered Previous Trauma
When victim-survivors of sexual abuse by Church leaders share their stories, some mention that they experienced previous abuse or trauma even before they were harmed in the Church. Trauma researchers report that this is not uncommon. People who…
Courageous Conversation: Sharing Faith with Children in the Wake of the Abuse Crisis
Last week Awake welcomed three panelists who shared both professional and personal insights into the hopes, concerns, and challenges for parents and others aiming to share the Catholic faith with children while building a…
Awake Welcomes 6 New Members to Our Survivor Advisory Panel
Awake considers listening to and learning from victim-survivors of abuse to be central to our work as an organization, which makes our Survivor Advisory Panel a valuable part of our community. This diverse group of survivors is invested…
Meet Awake’s New Patron Saints
In a special prayer service this week, Awake introduced a group of patron saints recently chosen for our community, and launched a novena calling on the intercession of these saints. A recording of the service, just 16 minutes…
John Heffernan
“It’s a surprise that opening up about being a survivor has allowed me to love my family, friends, and community more deeply and to be loved more fully.”
What Does Grooming Look Like in the Sexual Abuse of Adults?
As we grapple with the problem of sexual abuse of adults in the Catholic Church, it’s important to acknowledge the role of grooming, the tactics some abusive people use to gain access to their victims and avoid getting…
As Historic Synod Begins in Rome, Awake Asks Delegates to Remember Victim-Survivors
This is an important week for the Catholic Church, as clergy and lay leaders gather in Rome for a three-week meeting that is the next step of the Synod on Synodality. Called by Pope Francis in 2020, the…
Courageous Conversation: Survivor Panel Describes the Spiritual Impacts of Sexual Abuse
Awake’s first Courageous Conversation of the 2023-24 season featured four victim-survivors who shared powerful stories of how they came to connect with God and to courageously undertake a long journey of healing. “Spiritual Trauma:…
Kathleen Klamka
“If I was the only victim I don’t think I could keep going. But I think of someone else’s story and that keeps me motivated.”
The Complicated Question of Forgiveness After Sexual Abuse
Today we revisit a post on how the concept of forgiveness is sometimes misused against abuse survivors. We originally shared this post in September 2021. Forgiveness is central to Christianity. In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus…
As Awake Begins Our Fifth Year, We Unveil An Updated Mission Statement
It’s hard to believe that it was only four years ago, in August 2019, that Awake Milwaukee was launched. What started as a small group of Catholic lay people gathering in my living room has become a vibrant, rapidly expanding nonprofit organization with a national and even international reach…
Patricia Ruppert
“I want other female survivors of adult abuse to know that they are not alone. I believe that knowing that I wasn’t alone in this type of abuse helped my healing process.”
5 Things Every Priest Should Know About Sexual Abuse
Today we revisit a powerful post from Mike Larson of the Awake Leadership Team, which we first published in November 2022. By Mike LarsonAwake Leadership Team One weekend at a friend’s house, I ran into a…
Awake Community Gathers to Celebrate God in the Stillness
Last week, Awake hosted its much-loved annual Prayer in the Park service, which featured hymns, scripture, poetry, and small group conversation, all built around the theme of “Finding God in the Stillness.” Some members of the Awake community…
Making the Eucharist Accessible to Survivors of Abuse
In her work with people who have been sexually abused in the Catholic Church, Paula Kaempffer, Outreach Coordinator for Restorative Justice and Abuse Prevention for the Archdiocese of Saint Paul & Minneapolis, has found that a surprising number…
“I Will Never Forget This Weekend:” Transformative Experiences at Awake’s First Retreat for Abuse Survivors
I didn’t know what to expect when I stepped into Awake’s recent weekend retreat for abuse survivors. After months of planning and more Zoom meetings than I can count, we were finally bringing together 17 people who had experienced sexual abuse by a Catholic leader…
Awake Asks Questions From Survivors About Wisconsin’s Clergy and Faith Leader Investigation
Back in April, on the second anniversary of the Wisconsin Department of Justice’s (DOJ) Clergy and Faith Leader Abuse Initiative, Awake published a blog post detailing how the DOJ team was trained to work in trauma-sensitive, victim-centric ways with survivors who report that they were abused by a priest or other faith leader.
Jim Richter
“When one victim-survivor can extend the hand of compassion and kindness to another, even when struggling with their own pain, that is grace to me.”