During a special Wednesday evening prayer service, Portland's Catholic Archbishop John G. Vlazny issued a formal apology to the victims of sexual abuse by priests, both for the abuse itself and for the "inadequacy in which the church responded to the crimes."About 200 people attended the service at St. Mary's Cathedral in Northwest Portland.
They sang hymns, said prayers and lit candles for victims.
They asked God for forgiveness and emboldened one another to seek the truth and to bring forth healing for both the church and for victims and their families.
"The victims of sexual abuse have carried many burdens," Vlazny said. "I take this opportunity to express my sincerest apology."
It was a frank and open service. During one hymn, a cantor sang: "We have chosen to save face rather than to save children," and "We have kept silent in the face of injustice."
In his homily, Vlazny echoed those sentiments.
"By our reluctance to bring light to this great darkness, we as a people, have sinned," he said.
"Now that we have embraced it, we are committed to success because we know it's the right thing to do."
The service, which lasted about an hour, came a week after the archdiocese released hundreds of secret documents showing how church officials repeatedly covered up abuse and failed to remove clergy who faced credible accusations.
Vlazny decided to do the prayer service because he has long been concerned with assisting sex abuse victims with healing, said Bud Bunce, spokesman for the archdiocese.
Vlazny conducted a similar service in Seaside in 2000 after settling about two-dozen lawsuits accusing the Rev. Maurice Grammond of sex abuse, Bunce noted.
But Barbara Dorris, outreach director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, released a statement saying the service was "forced upon" the archbishop by a single victim, part of her settled claim against the church.
That woman was not at the service because of a previously scheduled vacation, said her attorney, Erin Olson.
Bill Crane, also with the victims' group, said Vlazny's message fell short.
He said that the service was more public relations than true reconciliation and that there is still too much hypocrisy on the part of the church for victims to feel anything other than intimidated.
"You still have members of the clergy in Portland that live as retired priests with no defrocking taking place," he said. "They collect their retirements and are still very much a part of the church."
Still, some members of the congregation felt that the service was a grand step in the right direction.
"I felt it really covered the areas that brought the most pain to people," said Sister Lucy St. Hilaire, a nun at All Saints Parish. "My hope is that the people who were hurt begin to experience healing. That's my deepest prayer."
Facing mounting financial pressure from lawsuits filed by victims of sexually abusive priests, the archdiocese filed bankruptcy in 2004.
The bankruptcy settlement paid more than $50 million to 175 people who said they were sexually abused by clergy going back more than 50 years.
The plan set aside an additional $20 million for people who have not yet come forward with sexual abuse claims.
The settlement plan does not include the use of any parish or school assets. Insurance companies paid more than $50 million toward the settlement. The archdiocese will rely on a line of credit to pay other costs.
Portland was the first Catholic archdiocese in the country to seek bankruptcy protection from sex abuse litigation. Since then, dioceses in New Mexico, Washington, Iowa and California have sought bankruptcy protection.
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