What is Accompaniment? 25
contact with the institutional Church. To these people, the laity can be the
Church through sharing their friendship and companionship with them,
heeding the Gospel call to “love one another” (John 13:34). This friendship
is gentle, gradual, patient, and compassionate, respecting those who are
separated from the Church by witnessing to the love and compassion of
God. Through this companionship, accompaniment of those estranged or
disaffiliated from the Church becomes a way in which the laity can live out
their vocation:
The ‘world’ thus becomes the place and the means for the lay
faithful to fulfill their Christian vocation, because the world itself
is destined to glorify God the Father in Christ.
(Christifideles Laici, 15)
Rather than abandoning those who do not relate closely with the
Church, accompaniment challenges the baptized to reach out in mercy and
compassion, listening for the source of their separation and working to rem-
edy it in the context of a free and loving spiritual relationship.
Abuse Crisis
The clerical abuse crisis in the Catholic Church is an impediment to
both the Church’s mission and to authentic spiritual accompaniment. Abuse
damages relationships by sowing seeds of distrust among the Church’s
members. Abuse of any kind is incompatible with the mission and ministry
of the Church.
Accompaniment of others through this crisis must involve sensitivity to
varied life experience, especially towards victims of abuse and “those who
have the courage to denounce the evil they have suffered” (Final Document
of the Synod of Bishops on Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment, 31).
Emphasis must be placed on eradicating abuse and re-committing Church
ministries, ministers, and environments to effective accountability and re-
porting methods. At the same time, the existing good work of clergy and
lay people must be raised up as reasons for the Church to hope in the midst
of this tragedy. The work of restoring trust and faith in the Church is an
important but gradual task, “like a great forest that quietly grows” (Christus
Vivit, 99). While the apostolate of accompaniment cannot completely repair
the damage caused by abuse, it plays an irreplaceable role in demonstrating