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  Hope Takes Wings
A Clery Abuse Survivor Is Crafting 1,000 Origami Cranes to Bring Attention to Her Cause

By Kay Harvey
St. Paul Pioneer Press [Minnesota]
June 19, 2005

Hope comes in many forms.

Belinda Martinez has crafted it in the shape of origami cranes — a thousand of them.

That number is symbolic of 1,092 victims who for the first time last year alleged sexual abuse at the hands of Roman Catholic priests or deacons.

As she folded the paper cranes one by one, "it was astounding to me the number who've been hurt," says Martinez, co-founder and survivor liaison for the Minnesota chapter of Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP.

The newest tally of victims, recorded in a 2004 report of alleged clergy sex crimes by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, comes on the heels of 10,667 allegations of abuse by priests reported from 1950 to 2002.

The paper cranes, strung together in groups of 100 and tied in a circle, have been sent off in recent days to a meeting of the bishops' conference in Chicago, the Vatican in Rome, the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis and a children's peace memorial in Hiroshima, Japan. The Sadako Memorial was built on a myth that Japanese gods will grant a wish to those who fashion a thousand origami cranes.

Her wish for victims is a sense of peace, she says. "And that the bishops will foster an environment that feels safe enough that victims can continue to come forward."

Martinez was 18 when a priest who had earned her trust sexually abused her, she says. Like many who have told their stories, the shame and grief plummeted her into "a netherworld of despair," she says. "Because of who they (church leaders) are, you don't have permission to tell your story."

Seventeen years later, she filed suit against the archdiocese where the abuse occurred. She had by then also been sexually assaulted by a hospital chaplain while she was medicated on the day following surgery. Both priests admitted their guilt, and she received an out-of-court settlement.

For Martinez, the healing journey already had begun. An article she stumbled on helped her to turn an empowering corner. "It told me the abuse wasn't my fault," she remembers. A church organist and freelance writer, she turned to the arts to express her feelings. She composed music and wrote hundreds of poems to work through hurt and grief.

The Internet opened other doors. She met people online, gave support and helped them find resources. When she found a Web site's invitation to submit hopeful messages for an online newsletter, she rallied to the cause, contributing dozens of inspirational messages — many in poetic form.

A sign language interpreter who lives in Maplewood, she also has led spiritual healing workshops and given award-winning sermons. She founded the Minnesota chapter of SNAP in 2002 with Michael Wegs, who works as a corporate communications specialist and is a national public policy adviser for SNAP.

A.W. Richard Sipe, a former Benedictine monk, researcher and author on the subject of clergy sex abuse, calls her "a survivor for survivors." No matter how weary or overworked, she never gives up, says Sipe, a Minnesota native and California psychotherapist.

As the organization's survivor liaison, Martinez has talked with nearly a thousand victims of clergy sex abuse. Last summer, she hit the road to take her message of hope and healing to survivors in 25 states and the province of Ontario.

"You can do it," she tells them. "It's no different from an alcoholic who says, 'I'm a drunk. I take it day by day.' " She counts herself now among victims who stand on the other side of the pain.

"But always that memory will be there," she says.

 
 

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