The Maria Goretti Network, a peer support group for those affected by any type of abuse, recently launched a chapter in the Catholic Diocese of Cleveland. The group provides support for abuse victims as well as their family and friends by helping them journey toward recovery and forgiveness through dialogue and prayer.
The local meetings take place 7:30-9 p.m. the first Monday of each month in Room 103 (the Father Kaminski Center) at St. Mary Magdalene Parish in Willowick. Two lay leaders facilitate the sessions.
Spiritual advisors for the group are Father Damian Ference, diocesan vicar for evangelization, and Father Steven Breck, pastor of St. Mary Magdalene Parish. Both men and women are welcome at the sessions.
The organization is named after St. Maria Goretti. She was a poor Italian girl and a devout Catholic who was abused, then killed by 20-year-old Alessandro Serenelli. Her family worked for his family.
After 11-year-old Maria repeatedly refused his advances, Serenelli stabbed her multiple times on July 5, 1902. She was taken to a hospital for treatment but died the next day. Before her death, Maria forgave her attacker.
Serenelli was prosecuted and sentenced to 30 years in prison. During the 11th year of his imprisonment, he said he saw a vision of Maria, which prompted his conversion.
He was released from prison after serving 28 years. After his release, he visited Maria's mother seeking her forgiveness. Serenelli found a job as a gardener in a Capuchin monastery, spending the rest of his life there.
He was among 30 witnesses who testified about Maria's sanctity during her cause of beatification. In 1950, she was canonized in a ceremony attended by a quarter million people, including her mother.
For more information about St. Maria and the Maria Goretti Network, click here. Information about the local group is available by emailing smmcle@mgoretti.org.