The Healed By Truth Parish Advocacy Initiative

Currently, there are many grassroots initiatives and programs rising up in the Catholic Church in North America to help people who have experienced trauma. Programs like Awake out of Milwaukee, help abuse survivors, Hope's Garden and Catholics for Family Peace support domestic violence survivors, Leonie's Longing supports those who left religious life (many having experienced trauma in their communities), Parish Advocates in the Archdiocese of Kansas City, Kansas serve those with special needs, and the list goes on. This is an incredible undertaking and a sign of great hope and healing in our Church! To all these program founders and members, we are truly grateful! Your work is making a difference! 

To further their work, the Church needs a unified framework to connect all these vital movements, and utilize their resources to enable parishes to recognize and help all the wounded in their community, so no one is turned away.

In the Gospels, the sick and the suffering approach Christ the Healer together. They did not separate themselves into their specific illness or ailment categories. The blind were next to the deaf, who were beside the paralytics, lepers, demoniacs, and the list goes on. This is a guiding light for Parish Advocacy: (Jesus) went around all of Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom, and curing every disease and illness among the people," Matthew 4:23. 

A Parish Advocate is a trained and knowledgeable minister or lay member who serves the wounded in their parish community by listening, sharing resources, and educating the community on the relationship between faith and trauma, giving the wounded a renewed sense of belonging and healing in the Church. 

The wounded are the people in our communities who have been traumatized, either by abuse, abandonment, neglect, mistreatment, or marginalization, and as a result, struggle to pray, go to Church, and/or keep their faith in a good and loving God. 

The wounded are: sexual abuse survivors, domestic abuse survivors, military service members who have experienced trauma or moral injury, church employees who experience scandal or trauma in their workplaces, ordained and religious members who have experienced trauma in or outside the Church, children and persons with special needs, the sick and chronically ill, natural disaster survivors, and many others. 

In John 20:27, Christ's Risen body bears the wounds of the nails from the Cross. This tells us a lot about wounds, and about the God who bears them. Jesus' Sacred Wounds ultimately reveal to us that God has space for our wounds, and so does the Church. 

Whether the wounded have remained inside of or outside of the Church, most have had to practice their faith in the margins. Many set out to make their journey of healing, only to encounter an overwhelming stretch of mind, body, and soul. Many cannot navigate the complexities of their wounds by themselves. But this doesn't have to be the case. Through the grassroots movements and Parish Advocacy, every wounded member can be seen, supported, and re-incorporated into the Body of Christ with the help of the parish community.

The goal for every parish should be to become trauma informed, and for every adult member to understand that there are wounded members in their midst. Parish Advocacy is ultimately the work of every member of Christ's Body, the Church. We are all called to help our wounded brothers and sisters, and if necessary, to carry them to Christ. But first, we have to be able to see those wounds, and understand them. Otherwise, the wounded are left alone to navigate through complex traumas and faith-wounds. A Parish Advocate could help their parish and their community to become trauma informed through educational materials, resources, and seminars at the parish level.

In order for Parish Advocates to do their job, they need resources, training, and materials to guide them. There are more than enough grassroots programs, mental health professionals, therapists, clinicians, social workers, theologians, and specialists in the Church who are already working with the wounded in one specific way or another. It's time for our collected efforts and resources to come together to support all the wounded.

If this work is done we could experience an unprecedented sense of wholeness and healing in our Church and communities. Our wounded brothers and sisters deserve the best that Christ and the Church have to offer. So, let's work together, and give them our best! 

1. Work with those who are already developing similar programs and initiatives to develop a unified framework.
2. Prepare materials and resources.
3. Work with Bishops and Pastors for feedback and development.
4. Find and train Parish Advocates. 
5. Implement the Parish Advocacy Initiative at the Parish level.

If you are interested in helping with this initiative in any way, please reach out and we will be in contact with you shortly.