National Day of Sorrow and Promise prayer resource

Catholic Religious Australia has prepared a prayer resource with the theme ‘Widen the Circle of Our Hearts’ for use in local Religious community settings to mark the 2024 National Day of Sorrow and Promise.

The annual National Day of Sorrow and Promise will take place this year on Sunday, October 20.

“Along with the wider Catholic community, over the years, Religious congregations have been on a painful, yet necessary and ultimately lifegiving, path of repentance and healing in relation to the sexual abuse crisis in the Church and society,” said CRA President Br Gerard Brady CFC and National Executive Anne Walker in an introduction to the resource.

“The journey has ongoing challenges, even as transformative steps are taken. Until each victim is acknowledged and until every child is safe, we will never rest in our expression of sorrow and concern.

“Pope Francis has expressed this determined commitment, and we include within an excerpt from one of his addresses. We also recognise the toll on many Religious, and the need for understanding, support and the experience of God’s loving care to sustain their own lives — personally, communally and ministerially.”

They said each of these elements has its place in CRA’s annual National Day of Sorrow and Promise, conscious of the divine embrace by which God holds all God’s children.

“Once again, CRA offers a prayer resource for use in local Religious community settings, and which can be shared freely, such as in parishes or with ministerial associates. The prayer process is flexible, and each community is free to adapt it as needed,” the introductory statement said.

“Its power lies in the realisation that, on the National Day of Sorrow and Promise, we are all joining as one voice in prayer for victims and survivors of sexual abuse and in a united gesture of recommitment to the safeguarding reforms of the Catholic Church.

“Thank you for undertaking this opportunity for united prayer and recommitment, in a spirit of sorrow and promise.”

Click here to learn more and to access the Liturgy Resource.