Bishop John McCormack of Manchester, New Hampshire, will meet with victims in here in Salem, Mass., sometime today. It was here in Salem that a now-deceased former associate of McCormack’s allegedly molested more than 100 boys and young men and McCormack allegedly did nothing to help them or stop him. What do the victims hope to accomplish? I’m sure some of them are just hoping to pummel the bishop with their pain and anger. Others want something more.
- “This meeting is about an opportunity for victims, parents and loved ones to engage the bishop in unfiltered dialogue, so they can get basic answers to their questions,” said Olan Horne, a member of Survivors of Rev. Joseph Birmingham, a support group. “There’s a sense of empowerment that goes along with these meetings.” It?s also an opportunity for McCormack to “own his responsibility in this,” Horne said.
Another news account I read had one victim saying he wanted McCormack to understand the pain of the victims and to ask himself with anguish, “What have I done?” It’s not a bad place for him to be. And it’s the first step on the road to repentance for any sinner, not just the bishop.
