Caribbean National Rape Victim Fighting Catholic Church Abuse

A Caribbean national, who said she was raped and impregnated as a teenager four decades ago by a seminarian, is now helping to lead the charge to stop abuse by the Catholic Church.

Denise Buchanan, now 57, is part of Ending Clerical Abuse, a new international organization which last month sought to unite victims who suffered abuse by members of the church.

Charges of sexual abuse have rocked the Catholic Church as numerous cases being made public in recent years. Many have blasted the church for allowing the abuse to continue over decades as its leaders attempted to cover up incidents and keep offenders among its hierarchy.

Last month the Catholic Church’s leader Pope Francis held a Vatican Summit on Child Protection in Rome to try and quell the rising outrage. He is being pushed to take a hard line against abusers.

SPEAKING OUT

Meanwhile, victims like Buchanan, who said she was 17 and living in her hometown of Kingston, Jamaica when she was raped, have refused to stay quiet.

“I got pregnant and he (rapist) arranged a clandestine abortion,” Buchanan told the AFP.

According to the news agency, Buchanan said “she has struggled in vain for years for the Church to officially recognize her as a victim - even writing to the pope himself - while the priest who abused her has escaped justice.”

Buchanan recalled to AFP her ordeal and the Catholic Church’s “denial, particularly in poorer countries where the Church remains politically and socially influential.” She believes the institution of the Catholic Church has often made it seem immune to correction. In her case, she noted, the church retained its acceptance, making it difficult to break the savage cycle.

“Brother Paul (her alleged perpetrator) would talk at length with my father, and my mother would invite him to stay for dinner,” she told AFP.

“Brother Paul” was then a theology student and future priest.