Nuala Kenny is a Sister of Charity in Halifax, Nova Scotia and a pediatrician. An officer of the Order of Canada since 1999, she has published several books, including Healing the Church (Novalis, 2012) and Rediscovering the Art of Dying (2017). She is co-author of Still Unhealed: Treating the Pathology in the Clergy Sexual Abuse Crisis (Novalis and Twenty-Third Publications, 2019). She most recently published, A Post-Pandemic Church: Prophetic Possibilities (Novalis and Twenty-Third Publications, 2021).

How the Church can play a role in healing trauma and promoting resilience-

At the conclusion of the XXXVI World Youth Day on 6 August 2023, Pope Francis called on the young people at that massive gathering to be “beacons of hope in dark times”. As a religious sister and pediatrician, I am concerned about the cumulative effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the sexual abuse crisis, global violence, and environmental disasters that are wounding our youth; putting them at spiritual risk; and compromising their ability to respond to the pope’s call to be beacons of hope.

Vulnerability is inherent in our embodied and socially embedded human state. This is particularly true for infants, children, and youth who are dependent on us for care and protection. Research from trauma studies, child development, and epigenetics provide crucial information for evangelization and the Church’s programs of care, support, and prevention.

Read more at: https://international.la-croix.com/news/science-tech/our-wounded-youth/18804