Sydney archdiocesan clergy gathered at Waterview in Bicentennial Park on August 28 for a conference on safeguarding families from domestic violence. Source: The Catholic Weekly.
The gathering heard sobering realities faced by domestic violence victims and learned how faith communities can respond with compassion, vigilance and action.
“Clergy are our first responders. They are on the front line,” Jennifer Orre, director of Sydney Archdiocese’s Office of Safeguarding and Ministerial Integrity Office, said.
“It’s really important to arm them with the knowledge around what domestic violence (DV) looks like, places that they can refer people to and how to respond.”
Sydney Archbishop Anthony Fisher OP was among the 300 clergy who attended the conference. He said it was important for clergy to understand DV from all angles to help stem the epidemic of violence, not just combat it.
“We as pastors weigh great influences of people’s values and their behaviour, so we can be part of the solution, not just there with the Band-Aids when someone’s hurting,” he said.
“Today is a very practical day, so we’re going to go away with a lot of ideas about what we could do to improve this situation. What we could do for people with red flags in our congregation, and how you would intervene, how you would assist them in that situation,” he said.
Misha Monsted, of the Integrated Violence Prevention and Response Service within NSW Health, spoke about what family domestic violence looked like and what tactics could be used in helping victims of abusive behaviour.
The Vicar General of the Sydney Archdiocese, Fr Sam Lynch, said: “You encounter people in these situations in your pastoral ministry all the time.
“In order to be able to help people and to try to be part of the solution rather than the problem in our society, you just need to be educated.”
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Safeguarding conference arms clergy in Sydney for fight against domestic violence (By Darren Ally, The Catholic Weekly)
