Awake Blog
Welcome to the Awake Blog! If you’re new to Awake, we recommend you check out these top blog posts from our archive.
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Investigation of Researcher David Pooler Finds Credible Allegations of Verbal Sexual Misconduct and Professional Boundary Violations
Pooler spoke at Awake’s 2021 Courageous Conversation about abuse of adults, and we had quoted him in multiple posts on the Awake blog. While the investigation was ongoing, we removed this content from our website; based on the findings of the GRACE investigation, we have now permanently removed the content.
Awake Acknowledges Charter Revisions and Calls for Further Action by Church Leaders
“We urge all dioceses to publicly acknowledge the reality of abuse of adults, establish clear, transparent, compassionate policies for responding to allegations, and offer care to those who have been harmed in this way.”
How Can We Address Abuse of Adults in the Catholic Church?
To consider how the Catholic Church might address abuse of adults, we spoke with Julie Hanlon Rubio, professor of Christian ethics at the Jesuit School of Theology at Santa Clara University. “Sexual violence [is] an act of injustice,” she says. “It violates the dignity of a human person.”
New Audio Documentary Explores Spiritual Abuse of Adults
“Descent Into Light” is an eight-part documentary created by Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble and Sr. Danielle Victoria Lussier of the Sisters of the Little Way. In this Q&A, the sisters tell us what inspired this project.
The Top 10 Questions We Hear About Awake
Awake’s reach as a national organization continues to grow! We welcome the many new members of the Awake community and offer you this information about our work.
Survivors Share 6 Myths About Abuse in the Church
What do people in the Catholic Church and the broader public typically get wrong about sexual abuse by Church leaders? Earlier this year, we posed this question to people in the Awake community who have experienced sexual abuse in the Church, asking them which myths they hear most.
What Stops Adult Survivors Who Are from Minority Groups from Disclosing Abuse?
New work by Lucy Huh, a researcher and member of the Awake community, describes the barriers that stop people harmed as adults from disclosing abuse, particularly if they come from minority cultures or are immigrants to the United States.
Researcher Advocates for New California Law Criminalizing Sexual Abuse of Adults
When she discovered that her state lacked a criminal statute outlawing sexual contact between clergy members and adult parishioners, Lucy Huh was suddenly driven by what she calls “a personal quest.”
6 Tips for Priests: How to Address Abuse in a Homily
Please assume that every time you preach, there are people in the congregation who have experienced trauma, including harm caused by Catholic leaders.
Jennifer LaVoy
“If my story helps just one person realize the danger of clericalism and abuse of power, it’s worth it to me.”
6 Things Never to Say About Survivors of Clergy Abuse
Back in 2021 I wrote a blog post for Awake that covered some of the hurtful things that people sometimes say to clergy abuse survivors, along with more supportive things they might say instead. Many people read it and several survivors—including my mom—responded with additional things that they’ve heard from Catholics and would add to the list.
Esther Harber
“That profound understanding that I am not alone takes a great deal of the shame away. ”
Case of Prominent Jesuit Highlights Church Failures Around Abuse of Adults
The case of Fr. Marko Rupnik, a prominent Jesuit priest who has been accused of sexual and spiritual abuse of religious women, suggests that the Church hierarchy remains unwilling to take the abuse of adults seriously. Rupnik, 68,…
Courageous Conversation: Abuse Survivors Share What They Want Catholics to Understand
Last week, Awake Milwaukee launched the third season of its popular Courageous Conversations series with “What I Want Catholics to Understand,” a panel discussion that featured five victim-survivors of abuse in the Catholic Church. A recording of the conversation is now available on Awake’s YouTube channel. Here we offer a summary of the main insights shared during the conversation, which was moderated by Sara Larson, executive director of Awake Milwaukee.
6 Things Never to Say About Survivors of Clergy Abuse
Back in 2021 I wrote a blog post for Awake that covered some of the hurtful things that people sometimes say to clergy abuse survivors, along with more supportive things they might say instead. Many people read it and several survivors—including my mom—responded with additional things that they’ve heard from Catholics and would add to the list.
Is the Catholic Church Beginning to Address Abuse of Adults?
As we’ve noted on this blog many times, the problem of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church is not limited to the abuse of children.
Archdiocese of Milwaukee Launches New Policies for Reporting Misconduct, Awake Responds
The Archdiocese of Milwaukee recently announced new protocols for handling allegations of misconduct by bishops, as well as allegations of misconduct against adults by clergy or lay leaders in the Church.
