Second Reparation Mass offered for healing, prayers

A Mass of Reparation and Healing for victims of clergy abuse will be held next month to pray for the healing of all clergy abuse victims. It will be held April 8 at 5:30 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Epiphany in Sioux City, celebrated by Bishop Walker Nickless.

The is the second year that a reparation Mass has been offered in recent years. The event was purposely scheduled during April – Child Abuse Prevention Month.

This Mass will take on a more somber tone than some diocesan liturgies, Father Andrew Galles, director of worship explained.

“The Mass of Reparation can be a more difficult occasion to generate interest among the faithful because it is, by its very nature, not celebratory in nature. It is not like attending an ordination Mass or first holy Communion,” he said.

The faithful are encouraged to attend and pray with the bishop, even if they are not directly affected by the abuse, the priest pointed out. He referenced St. Paul’s writing from 1 Corinthians, “Whenever one member suffers, all the members suffer with it.”

As public signs of humility and penitence at the reparation Mass, the bishop will not wear his miter or carry his croAt the 2024 Mass of Reparation, Bishop Nickless wore simple vestments and did not wear a miter or carry a crozier.zier, which are signs of the office of a bishop. 

At the beginning of Mass, Bishop Nickless will process to the altar in silence with his deacons and servers. The bishop will prostrate himself in silent prayer before the altar while the faithful kneel.

Diocesan priests have been invited to attend to join in prayer and the Mass is open to the public.“I think last year’s Mass of Reparation was received well by those who needed its prayers the most,” the director of worship said. 

“The church has put many reforms into place with regard to clerical abuse and this has yielded results, but that doesn’t mean that the pain is gone. It still remains important for us to adopt a posture of humility and pray for those who have been hurt, acknowledging that we are all one body in Christ.”