Domestic Abuse Ministry

Our focus in this ministry is to serve as first responders to our brothers and sisters who need to restore their peace of mind, body and spirit, due to domestic abuse.

One of our goals, is to create awareness of this issue within our community and to provide a Catholic response to it by bringing hope, help, and healing. We will provide the proper tools and skills to recognize domestic abuse, respond to it with compassion, and refer people in need to the proper services to get help.

If the Holy Spirit is moving you to serve in this ministry, please register below!

April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month

Since 1983, in United States, April has been designated as Child Abuse Prevention Month. There is a shift taking place across the nation regarding child abuse and neglect fatalities. These tragedies, long considered inevitable, make headlines across every community and jurisdiction, with a focus on why systems failed our children and how these children fell through the cracks. Approximately 5 children die every day because of child abuse.

One finding point is the fact that child welfare systems have historically been focused on addressing harm, only after it has occurred. Now, systems work collaboratively across multiple agencies to provide the resources and support that families need to prevent abuse and neglect before it can occur.

The Kane County Child Advocacy Center is committed to providing a safe, child-focused environment for child victims of physical and sexual abuse, ensuring thorough and victim-sensitive investigations and prosecutions. CASA Kane County relied on nearly 201 trained volunteers to represent 613 children in Juvenile and Probate Courts last year. If you believe your child or any child has been physically or sexually abused, call 911, or call the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services hotline at 1-800-25-ABUSE (1-800-252-2873). Illinois DCFS and the police refer all eligible cases to the Kane County Child Advocacy Office. We as community members have a role in ensuring children have positive experiences and families have the resources they need when they need them, well before they are in crisis. Child abuse and neglect are preventable, and all communities benefit when children and families are well supported. For more information go to www.preventchildabuse.org or contact our Ministry Coordinator Terry Apple at terryapple12@att.net.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness and Respect Life Month

October was first declared as National Domestic Violence Awareness Month in 1989. Since then, October has been a time to acknowledge domestic violence survivors and be a voice for its victims. Domestic violence is prevalent in every community, and affects all people regardless of age, socio-economic status, gender, race, religion, or nationality.

Domestic violence awareness is associated with the color purple. Throughout October, people decorate their lives in the color purple – from t-shirts and ribbons to nail polish and hair color. The color purple is a symbol of peace, courage, survival, honor and dedication to ending violence. Someone you care about has likely experienced some kind of domestic abuse, even if you can’t see it – 1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men will experience severe physical violence from an intimate partner in their lifetime.

Here at St. John Neumann our Domestic Abuse Ministry serves as a doorway to hope, help and healing to victims of Domestic Abuse. During October 8 & 9 we invite you to visit our Welcome Center to find more information and resources about this topic. If you or someone you know needs help, contact our ministry coordinator at 630.480.6561. To find professional assistance call the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-799-7233. If you are in immediate danger, call 911.

During this Year of Amoris Laetitia Family, Domestic Abuse Ministry at St. John Neumann intends to create awareness…

Family Peace Ministry at St. Johnn Neumann intends to create awareness of domestic abuse and violence and to provide resources to promote family peace. As a community of faith we are called to offer hope, help, and healing to all harmed by domestic abuse and violence. We invite you to learn to recognize domestic abuse, respond with compassion, and refer people to the proper services that are prepared to help them.

Domestic Violence Awareness Month offers us the opportunity to draw attention to the Church’s teaching on the dignity of all human life and the problem of violence in the home. “The Catholic Church-state clearly and strongly that violence against women, inside or outside the home, is never justified. Violence in any form- physical, psychological, verbal- is sinful; often, it is a crime as well. We have called for a moral revolution to replace a culture of violence. We acknowledge that violence has many forms, many causes, and many victims – men as well as women and children”. USSCB, When I called for Help: Pastoral Response to Domestic Violence Against Women.

Pope Francis talks about Domestic Abuse

1 in 4 women and 1 in 7 men are victims of Domestic Violence. Knowing the signs can lead to a call for help and receive healing for victims. Individuals in these circumstances may be living in an abusive relationship:

• Are you frightened at times by your partner’s behavior or afraid to disagree with
your partner?
• Do you often apologize for your partner’s behavior, especially when you are
treated badly or verbally degraded by your partner?
• Are you discouraged from seeing friends or family due to your partner’s jealousy?
• Have you been shoved, thrown down, strangled, or had things thrown at you?
• Are you not allowed to make decisions on your own?

The following website contains articles from the American Magazine specific to one
person’s encounter with a victim of domestic violence.
https://www.americamagazine.org/politics-society/2017/10/05/caring-most-vulnerableundocumented-women-abusive-relationships

If an abusive situation is revealed:

• Listen, Believe and Refer. Remember, abuse is not God’s will. Let them know that
without intervention, abuse often escalates in frequency and severity over time.
• Help is available 24/7 at the National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-SAFE
(7233) or at www.ndvh.org.
• If they are in immediate danger, call 911.
• For more information: Contact our Ministry Coordinator Terry Apple at

Resources:

• To learn more about the Catholic Response to Domestic Violence; visit the U.S.
Bishop’s website for their letter, When I Call for Help: A Pastoral Response to
Domestic Violence Against Women

June is Elder Abuse Awareness Month

The elderly in our society are often forgotten, mistreat and cast aside in what Pope Francis calls a “throwaway culture”. It is important for us to recognize the dignity and value that the elderly have to us as persons and as a society. In our families we need to acknowledge them as blessings and be present to them in order to enrich each other lives.

Unfortunately, elder abuse is an issue in our society, whether verbal, physical, emotional, or financial the abuse is real. The available information underestimates the problem, the number of nonfatal injuries in emergency departments doesn’t include those treated by other providers or those that do not seek treatment, so the abuse continues by their caregivers or their loved ones until the elderly decide to talk about it. In many cases they suffer in silence. The church calls attention to this tragedy so that we may bring awareness to it in order to prevent it in our society.