‘This should not have happened’: Harrisburg Diocese listening tour fills Mechanicsburg church

The pews of Saint Joseph’s Parish in Mechanicsburg were nearly full Wednesday night as members of the Catholic community listened intently to all sides of the clergy sex abuse scandal that rocked the religious community last year.

Bishop Ronald Gainer continued on his tour of listening sessions across the Harrisburg Diocese, both listening to parishioners and laying out the church’s plans for moving forward. He was in Lancaster County on Tuesday night.

One woman, who asked to not be identified, said she had been to several sessions and saw an array of emotions from anger, to bitterness, to understanding.

For her, she never lost faith, but she said that she had a lot of questions, especially after learning of abuse that happened to someone close to her.

“This should not have happened,” she said, especially with the understanding that the priests involved would have had to go to confession. What happened during those? An order to do Hail Mary’s and be done with it? That was hardly the answer, in her mind.

Another woman who wanted to remain anonymous, said as someone trained in clinical psychology, her biggest issue was how the church believed they were treating the priests involved.

Whether it was blaming the victims, or believing priests were driven to commit sexual offenses out of any number of reasons, the woman said the church clergy and laity needs to understand these are not real reasons to commit sexual offenses or make people sexual predators.

She is hopeful that in the future that their plans for screening clergy members and any kind of church treatment would be based in science instead of the psychodynamic approach that has been seen for decades.

Still, she said, she always returned to her faith, and the listening session helped her by letting her hear all perspectives.

“They’ve got to start somewhere,” she said.

Some people filled out surveys at the church while others took surveys home with them, providing them an opportunity to give feedback to the church.

The bishop’s next listening session will be Feb. 20 at Immaculate Conception Parish in Berwick.

If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.