Healing Our Church
by John Bookser Feister

(If you don't have time to read this now, please take note of the buttons on the right. They are free for the taking, for you to use on your Web site. Click on a button to pick up the html code.)

Dear Catholic Webmasters:

Who among us hasn't been reeling during the past 18 months of crisis in our Church? Yes, there are many unanswered questions, and revelations will continue to shock and disgust most of us for months to come. Our parish web sites can be instruments of healing as the Church endures this day of reckoning. This growing tool for the Church's

Q U I C K S C A N

Parish Site of the Month
Worth a Click

social communications can help us to spread the truth and deepen our understanding as we keep the crisis in perspective with the many things that are right about the Church. It seems important during these times to give the faithful some other sources of information to supplement the perspective of the secular media.

We at St. Anthony Messenger Press have devoted quite a bit of energy to the crisis with truth-telling and healing in mind. Early in 2002 we established a news feature at AmericanCatholic.org to present continual updates from Catholic News Service, backgrounders from our own publications and a message board where people can express their outrage and read others' comments. During the past six months the staff of St. Anthony Messenger turned its attention toward writing a special issue of the magazine devoted to healing the Church—with voices from across the spectrum, bishops to victims and their advocates. We posted the entire issue online as a service to the Church. We encourage you to link to all of this content by placing a simple text link to our extensive feature on clergy sexual abuse.

Our Church is learning how important it is to listen to the victims' perspective. The Messenger special issue has three related articles: the personal stories of two surviviors and a survivor's parents; a profile of a victim's advocate; and a story on the lay group Voice of the Faithful, which includes supporting survivors as one of its goals. These stories also include information on advocacy groups. It would seem wise to consult with your pastor or Web oversight committee before linking directly to any advocacy organization, as some are controversial.

The U.S. bishops have established a page to provide the conference's perspective on thie crisis. Consider linking directly to their "Restoring Trust" page. Your diocese communications office may have a page to help people report incidents of abuse or learn more about local diocesan efforts. If there is such a page, link to it.

For an exhaustive roundup of up-to-date reporting from newspapers, there is no better source than the Poynter Institute's "Abuse Tracker." The Poynter Institute is a non-profit organization devoted to improving journalism.

Finally, we mustn't forget all of the good priests and laity who are blameless and suffering from the scandal. We created a Catholic Greetings e-card to send a message of support to a priest. Feel free to use the image on the right to link to this e-card.

John Bookser Feister
Editor, AmericanCatholic.org and sister sites

Next month: Web Resources for Teens (by Julie Zimmerman)

Parish Site of the Month

St. Madeleine Sophie Parish, Archdiocese of Seattle
This site, from a Bellevue, Wash., parish, is well-organized, with links along the right side to answer visitors' most common questions. Perhaps the most impressive feature of the site are its links to the rest of the Catholic world. Unlike many other sites, whose information stops at the parish level, St. Madeleine keeps its visitors informed on the archdiocese and the larger Church. There is also extensive information on the church's building process, along with pictures and helpful information, and the online memorial books for deceased parishioners are a great idea.

Worth a Click

WHO'S HAND IS ON THE RIGHT, GOD'S OR ADAM'S?
Vatican Museum
It's one of the world's most popular art collections, and now it's open to Web surfers. Unveiled June 24, the Vatican Museum's new site allows visitors to become familiar with the art in the Sistine Chapel and five other collections. The presentation is stunning.

CALLING ATTENTION TO POVERTY
Brake the Cycle
From June 1-August 31 a group of cyclists, sponsored by the Catholic Campaign for Human Development, is making its way from San Francisco to Washington, D.C. in order to build solidarity with the poor. Find out how you can help!

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