The Wounded
Our communities are wracked by the violence of crime. Victims of violent crime and their families are in pain and that pain has a ripple effect throughout our communities. Often victims and their families are revictimized by the criminal justice system. Their deep and severe pain is often suffered in isolation. Restorative justice calls upon the whole community, especially the Church, to offer a hand of comfort, faith and hope so that they can be healed and restored to the community.
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In response to so much crime and treatment of those touched by crime, a strong and growing movement has emerged that advocates on behalf of crime victims and seeks to make the justice system more responsive to their concerns.* We believe that these efforts deserve support. We encourage and stand with victims and those who assist them.
(Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration, USCCB 2000, p. 7)
Victims and their families must have a more central place in a reformed criminal justice system. Besides the physical wounds some victims suffer, all victims experience emotional scars that may never fully heal. And since a majority of offenders are not apprehended for their crimes, these victims do not even have the satisfaction of knowing that the offender has been held accountable. This lack of closure can increase victim’s fears and make healing more difficult.
(Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration, USCCB 2000, p. 31)
Victims of crime and their families often turn to their local parishes for compassion and support. Pastors and parish ministers must be prepared to respond quickly and effectively. In the past, failure to do so has resulted in alienation from the Church by crime victims and/or members of the families of crime victims. Our pastoral presence to victims must be compassionate and constant, which includes developing victim ministry programs. Such programs will teach ministers to acknowledge the emotional strain felt by victims, to understand that the search for wholeness can take a very long time, and to encourage victims to redirect their anger from vengeance to true justice and real healing.
(Responsibility, Rehabilitation, and Restoration, USCCB
2000, p.49)
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