The report of the Royal Commission into Abuse in Care makes sobering reading for Christians. For each of us, even if our own particular institutions, communities and leaders are not named, there is a need to hear what the Spirit is saying to the Church, through the prophetic voices of those who were abused and who were not protected.

We need to acknowledge that evil has been done to the vulnerable among us, who should have known only love and safety. Each of us may not have done it ourselves; it may not have happened on our watch; but it has been done in our name, and by men and women who bear the name of Christ.

Christian faith provides a framework for hearing and comprehending the heartbreaking realities and experiences in the lives of those speaking through this report. We begin with repentance, acknowledging that evil is not something that belongs only to a subset of people, but is parcel of our common humanity. We lament, as God’s people have done over millennia, for when we have walked past our neighbour on the side of the road, ignored a warning signal, or worse. We are grateful for the hard long process of speaking and listening, and for how courageous people have brought truth to light.

As Christian leaders, we must acknowledge that we have failed to love enough. This has taken many forms – from not listening well or at all to victim-survivors, to inattentiveness to institutional safeguards.

What is required of us will likewise take many forms, and much critical-reflection and hard work over many years. Investing in accountability for leaders, institutional practices, and a theology where God’s gifts, human failings, and Christ’s work of redemption are not separate parts of our conversations, takes time. 

We know that the effects on victims and their families will not fade quickly, and that paths which open up reconciliation and healing will be long and painful. We know that Jesus offers hope, and that, in Christ, God reaches out to His children with hands that also bear the scars of abuse.

But, to begin, Christians must resist the urge to defend, downplay, or to move on quickly. It is an appropriate expression of our Gospel hope to end our services this Sunday with a posture of repentance and lament.

"He was despised and rejected by humanity
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain…
Surely he took up our pain
and bore our suffering,
…and by his wounds we are healed."
Isaiah 53