Domestic Abuse Ministry – St. John Neumann Catholic Church

Our focus in this ministry, as missionary disciples following Jesus teachings, is to promote family peace as we serve as first responders to our brothers and sisters who need to restore the peace of mind, body and spirit in their lives due to domestic abuse.

We understand that we could be ministering all members of the family: mothers, fathers, children and elderly; as well as individuals involved in a relationship.

One of our goals is to create awareness of this issue within our community and educate our parishioners on ways to promote family peace and to prevent and respond to domestic abuse. We will provide resources and promote prayer for all families.

All our initiatives will be to focus on how to promote peace in our families and provide a Catholic response to Domestic Abuse by bringing hope, help, and healing through education, resources, and research. We will provide the proper tools and skills to recognize domestic abuse and respond to it with compassion. We will refer people in need to the proper services to help them.

If the Holy Spirit is moving you to advocate for the peace of families and to bring hope, help, and healing to our brothers and sisters in need, please fill out the registration form below and we will contact you!

National Domestic Violence Hotline: 1-800-799-7233.

October is Domestic Violence Awareness and Respect Life Month

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.