Don't Call Me a Victim by Gary Bergeron

Don't Call Me a Victim is written by Gary Bergeron and published by Arc Angel Publishing. It is a book about faith, hope and sexual abuse in the catholic church.


From his childhood years as a victim of sexual abuse at the hands of one of Boston's most notorious priest's Rev. Joseph Birmingham, to his emergence as a leading spokesperson, this book details Bergeron's private meetings with church officials and his inside knowledge of the largest lawsuit ever filed against the Catholic Church. This first hand account of an insiders road from victim to survivor is truly inspiring. Don't Call Me A Victim, Faith, Hope & Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church, allows its readers to walk in his shoes.

To purchase a copy of the book: http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0975899341/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&qid=1270494504&sr=8-1&condition=new

Amazon reader comments:

By Fr. Patrick McCafferty "Fr Paddy McCafferty" (Belfast, Ireland)

This review is from: Don't Call Me a Victim (Hardcover)
"Don't Call Me A Victim: Faith, Hope & Sexual Abuse In The Catholic Church" is a truly remarkable book. It is a profoundly moving testimony. Reading it was a deeply affecting experience.

One can only be full of deep admiration for Gary Bergeron, his brother, his fellow survivors - Olan Horne, Bernie McDaid - and all the others.

I am a Catholic priest from Belfast in the north of Ireland. I also was sexually abused as a child beginning at age four by a child-minder. It marked me deeply as a child - plunging me into a world of fear and terror. I was also trying to grow up in the midst of the terrible violence that was a feature of daily life in Northern Ireland until quite recently.

To compound the trauma I suffered at such a tender age, I was also sexually assaulted on numerous occasions by a priest when I was a young student for the priesthood. This man used force and psychological manipulation to attack me. I felt helpless and that I was to blame - that I would have been the one in trouble - victims of sexual predators will know the deal and how we are made to feel.

All these accumulated experiences had horrific consequences for me. I couldn't sleep without the most awful nightmares. I couldn't eat without being sick almost immediately afterwards. I was self-harming with knives, etc. I suffered panic attacks and so on. I was eventually diagnosed as suffering from PTSD.

A great depth of thanks to Gary Bergeron for this amazing book, for sharing his courageous journey with us. When I was reading it, so many powerful emotions were surfacing - grief and tears, rage against the institutional Church, deep sorrow and distress at all that Gary and so many other innocents had to endure - I could go on.

Thanks to Gary and all the others for taking such a courageous stand against the powerful institution of the Catholic Church - too much of which has betrayed and abandoned Jesus Christ Himself - in the person of the children who suffered so horrendously at the hands of some of the very people - who were supposed to minister in Jesus' Name.

I too think often of the ones who never made it and who died as a result of the consequences - the injuries inflicted upon their hearts, souls, minds, bodies and spirits.

As a priest, I too have taken a very strong public stand on the issue of sexual abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults by clergy. As Gary Bergeron puts it so well on p.277 of his book: "...you could be on the outside of the Church doors and when they are closed, no one inside hears you. Or you could sit inside, in their home, where they have to look at you, and they can't ignore you".

That what I'm doing - I'm staying in the Church because of Jesus Christ and to do whatever little I can to help heal my fellow human beings who suffered the crime and tragedy of being abused, as well as to heal the Church itself.

I really hope that Gary Bergeron and his friends are now doing well. I wish them much peace and continued healing on their own journey of life. How delightful to hear about the Harley Davidson and I'm sure everyone wishes Gary much joy and safe traveling as he rides around New England with the wind in his face and the sun on his back!

God bless him. His books gives hope. I trust that those who read it - especially those who suffered the horror of sexual abuse when they were children and young people - will be greatly encouraged and strenghthened.

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't Call Me A Victim, October 6, 2004
By Kathleen Sannizzaro (Topsfield, Massachusetts)

This review is from: Don't Call Me a Victim (Hardcover)
I recently read "Don't Call Me A Victim" by Gary Bergeron and I literally could not put it down. Throughout the book I laughed (the author's humor is amazing in light of his situation).. and I cried..and when I was done with the book I told everyone I knew to read it! It is truly a riveting story told with humility and passion....leaving me to believe he truly is not a victim but a survivor and an inspiration.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Real Survivor, January 22, 2005
By Linda K (USA)

This review is from: Don't Call Me a Victim (Hardcover)
This book truly puts a personal face to a global situation. The approach of forgiveness, realistic expectations, accountablility, faith, spirituality and perserverance for what he believes is right was heartwarming. Excellent book. Highly recommended. Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Institutional Epidemic Pedophilia: A Survivor of Church Sexual Abuse Responds to Pope Benedict's Vow Not to "be Intimidated"

Institutional Epidemic Pedophilia: A Survivor of Church Sexual Abuse Responds to Pope Benedict's Vow Not to "be Intimidated"

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For Working to Put an End to Priest Pedo...

For Working to Put an End to Priest Pedophilia, Gary Bergeron Merits the BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award
By BuzzFlash
Created 04/04/2010 - 4:17pm



BUZZFLASH WINGS OF JUSTICE AWARD

GARY BERGERON

Don't call Gary Bergeron a victim; te sees himself as a survivor, a survivor of sexual child abuse at the hands of a religious figure: in this case a priest.

His father and brother were similarly violated in the Boston Archdiocese, as the hierarchy of the Catholic Church devoted more time to protecting the priests who abused than the victims.

These past two weeks, new revelations of past massive child abuse at the hands of priests has emerged, most notably in the U.S., Ireland, Germany, Italy and elsewhere. If these felony acts by priests were a disease, the abuse of children while under the care and “moral credibility” of the Church would be an epidemic.

Individual Catholics bear no blame in this monstrous sexual abuse of their children; but the church leadership – who covered up and prolonged sexual abuse – is to blame. There is no assurance that it is still not currently going on.

These past Holy Days leading up to the Resurrection of Christ during Easter were ironically filled with a mean-spirited Vatican public relations offensive to defend the Pope – who let much pedophilia go unpunished and unstopped when he headed the Church's clerical investigation office. At some point, those of the Catholic faith will have to choose between defending the leadership of the Vatican that has condoned child abuse and mollycoddled priests or choose to play Russian Roulette with whether or not their children will be sexually abused in the future.

BuzzFlash spoke to Gary Bergeron, who became known as one of the more fearless spokespersons for the many children who had been abused at the hands of some of the Boston Catholic clergy as the then Cardinal Law tried to dismiss their calls for an investigation. Bergeron told BuzzFlash that he is not looking for retribution nor does he harbor vindictiveness; he wants a solemn promise from Pope Benedict, with details, on how child sexual abuse will be prevented in the Church in the future. To this date, he has heard no such vow.

Bergeron wants the Catholic Church to live up to its Godly ideal, not to become a fraternity that protects its deviants at the expense of the trauma caused to children. He is still disappointedly waiting.

But he still maintains hope that God's emissary in the Catholic faith will finally do what is God's will and protect the children, not the perpetrators of sexual abuse.

For his singular patience, determination, and caring for the children of tomorrow, Gary Bergeron merits the BuzzFlash Wings of Justice Award.

BUZZFLASH WINGS OF JUSTICE AWARD

Technorati Tags: BuzzFlash Honors [1] Pedophilia [2] Pope Benedict [3] Cover-up [4]
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MSNBC: Vatican Scandal

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Gary Bergeron discusses current Vatican abuse crisis

Title: Priest abuse survivor Gary Bergeron discusses current Vatican abuse crisis
Published: Mon, 29 Mar 2010
Description: Priest abuse survivor Gary Bergeron discusses current Vatican abuse crisis

Watch this at Boston.com: http://necn.platformicstaging.com/pages/landing?blockID=206505

Priest abuse survivor reacts to latest crisis

Priest abuse survivor reacts to latest crisis
Mar 29, 2010 Recommend
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(NECN: Jim Braude) - Gary Bergeron understands the sexual abuse crisis surfacing in Europe over clergy abuse. He lived it. Bergeron is a clergy abuse survivor from the Greater Boston area.

He is the author of "Don't Call Me A Victim, Faith, Hope & Sexual Abuse in the Catholic Church."
Bergeron says he is again surprised at how reticent the Vatican is to acknowledge a problem that is right in front of it."For some reason, the Catholic Church never seems to miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity," Bergeron said.

But Bergeron says that as this abuse crisis grows in Europe, he doesn't want the Pope to step down for the first time in more than 500 years.

He says that the removal of Bernard Cardinal Law from the Boston Archdiocese may have been such a shock wave that it actually slowed reforms here. And he thinks the same could happen in the current case.

"My concern is that it will send a shock wave immediately, but then who is going to step in to replace him?" Bergeron notes, saying that it's difficult to find anyone at the senior level of the Church who lived through the era of abuse that doesn't have some direct or indirect connection to the crisis.

Tags: Vatican, Pope Benedict XVI, Gary Bergeron, abuse crisis

Pope Benedict XVI faces criticism over abuse cases

(NECN: Greg Wayland) - He won praise for his expressions of remorse over clergy sex abuse. But now Pope Benedict XVI is face to face with the scandal that left lasting wounds on the Catholic Church.

New reports are suggesting he failed to stop abuse here and in Europe.

He is the Pope who once headed up a key Vatican office reviewing sex abuse files, prosecuting abusers, and apologizing to victims.

Pope Benedict XVI: "We will absolutely exclude pedophiles from sacred ministry."

But now, worldwide, the sex abuse crisis has re-ignited over old, but disturbing cases in Ireland, Germany and in the U.S., where the New York Times is reporting that a Wisconsin priest allegedly abused 200 deaf boys over decades.

The allegation is that the pope, as Cardinal Josef Ratzinger, failed to act --

Church defenders are protesting.

Bill Donahue/Catholic League of Religious and Civil Rights: "He is head of the largest church in the world. He could not possibly know about every case of abuse."

But the Times is reporting that, as Archbishop of Munich, Germany, Ratzinger signed a memo allowing a pedophile priest to begin therapy, then quickly return to active ministry, and more abuse.

The Vatican has said the decision was made by a subordinate.

Phil Saviano/Clergy sex abuse survivor: "He should have followed up. It's the natural thing to do."

Boston resident Phil Saviano is among the founders of the survivors network of those abused by priests.

Phil Saviano: You can say that maybe the pope never read the memo. Didn't get that final message. But considering the fact that they were talking about a priest who had a history of molesting a bunch of kids and that he was the head of the committee that had discussed that issue, wouldn't you think that he would have asked his subordinates, what ever happened to this guy?

Gary Bergeron/Clergy abuse survivor: It seems that the catholic church is going back into their duck-and-cover position, which was, he offers an apology, which he did in Ireland, and it's a statement. My question is, what's next?

Massachusetts clergy sex abuse victim-survivor Gary Bergeron wrote a book on the issue. He has a message for the pope.

Gary Bergeron: He has an opportunity to engage long-term dialogue. How can we not only prevent what has happened, but how can we help these people walk forward, and maybe some kind of reconciliation with life, let along with the Catholic Church.