As reported in a recent CBC News story, the Anglican Church of Canada
apologized recently for failing – for over 20 years
– to make public a confession of sexual misconduct by one of
its priests. Gordan Nakayama, father of well-known Canadian writer
Joy Kogawa, confessed his crimes to the church in writing in 1994.
In reference to his "sexual bad behaviour", Nakayama said
he was "sincerely sorry [for] what [he] did to so many
people."
It is hard to predict what impact this apology might have had on
Nakayama's many victims, had it been made sooner. Victims of
sexual abuse often struggle with guilt, shame, anger, and fear. In
cases where the abuser was a powerful or trusted community figure,
like a priest, victims are often too scared to come forward.
Historically, victims who did come forward were frequently
disbelieved and shamed back into silence. Acknowledgment of the
wrong inflicted upon them by the perpetrator of their harms, or an
institution like a church that
