Jerry Kobs wanted to take Communion before Christmas. It was a cold, windy
morning in December of 2007 when he stepped inside St. Patrick’s, the
near-South Side church where he grew up and the scene of all his
childhood terror. TV stations had been covering the bizarre news of a
nun accused of sexually abusing – more than 160 times – two boys back in
the 1960s, back when Jerry was a bewildered seventh-grade victim. Kobs
couldn’t help worrying that maybe someone would recognize him. There he
is, one of those guys molested by the nun, Sister Norma Giannini.
It had been 20 years since Kobs had last visited the church, and that attempt hadn’t gone well. He felt guilty then, accused somehow, as though even the holy statues inside St. Patrick’s could see inside his soul. This time, the troubled 56-year-old settled cautiously into a back pew, trying to look inconspicuous and studying every detail. He was struck by how clean the church looked and how the parishioners smiled as they strummed mandolins. Perhaps he could now be accepted. Perhaps he could now accept himself.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/07_08/2008_07_08_Mcbride_Devilin.htm
It had been 20 years since Kobs had last visited the church, and that attempt hadn’t gone well. He felt guilty then, accused somehow, as though even the holy statues inside St. Patrick’s could see inside his soul. This time, the troubled 56-year-old settled cautiously into a back pew, trying to look inconspicuous and studying every detail. He was struck by how clean the church looked and how the parishioners smiled as they strummed mandolins. Perhaps he could now be accepted. Perhaps he could now accept himself.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2008/07_08/2008_07_08_Mcbride_Devilin.htm