I came accross this recent web commentary from a Boston area survivor of RC clergy childhood sexual abuse...I found it compelling, so I post it here to share:

Survivor of Clergy Sexual Abuse in Boston: The Catholic Church Leaders Have Not Cleansed the Cancer of Child Sexual Abuse Submitted by BuzzFlash on Sat, 03/27/2010 - 1:48pm.

    * Guest Commentary by GARY BERGERON FOR BUZZFLASH.COM

As a survivor of clergy abuse from the Boston area, it is of no surprise to me that the issue of clergy abuse has resurfaced on the front pages of newspapers across the globe, reaching the leader of the Catholic Church and rearing its ugly head.

It was almost 8 years ago at the resignation of Cardinal Bernard Law in Boston, that I found myself asking one simple question, "What's next?"

One year ago, after Pope Benedict met with a few survivors here in the United States, I again found myself asking the same question, "What's next?"

The truth and the facts which caused the resignation of Cardinal Law 8 years ago, are the same truths and facts of today. The documents released a decade ago, are the same documents that the general public are amazed to read today. The only thing different is the time that has past and the names of some of the church leaders.

Almost a decade ago, as thousands of survivors struggled to open the door and shed a light on childhood clergy abuse, the Catholic Church had an opportunity to open their doors, release their records. The leaders of the Catholic Church had an opportunity to cleanse the cancer of childhood sexual abuse from their institution and break the cycle of silence.

Instead, the world was told by Vatican officials that the abuse of children by priests was an "American Catholic Church" issue. The Vatican officials were wrong.

The Catholic Church, and the world, has an opportunity to open up a dialogue on childhood sexual abuse. Hopefully this will not be another opportunity missed.

The question of "What's next" wasn't rhetorical for me a decade ago, it is not rhetorical for me now. The world is waiting for an answer, and so am I.

Gary Bergeron is a clergy abuse survivor from the Greater Boston area who traveled to the Vatican with his father, also a survivor of clergy abuse, in 2003. He is the author of "Don't Call Me A Victim, Faith, Hope & Sexual abuse in the Catholic Church." He is currently working on his next book titled: "Finding Peace, One Man's Journey."
(BuzzFlash Note: We called Gary, who lives in the Northeast, to confirm his E-Mail to BuzzFlash. In a discussion, he told us that he is not looking for vengeance, but wants the Catholic Church hierachy to answer the question of what it will do to prevent child sexual abuse from continuing. Gary said that he wanted his grandchildren to be protected from what happened to him and his father, and that the occurence of child sexual abuse -- and the Church cover-ups -- in so many nations indicates that this is a widespread institutional pathology that needs immediate remedial action).

http://blog.buzzflash.com/contributors/3103