A Room With A Pew is a regular column on clergy sexual abuse and the healing process. Using memoir, essay, short story and poetry, the column aims to reflect the experiences, observations and opinions of Paul Fericano, a survivor of clergy abuse who attended St. Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara, California, in the sixties. The author helped co-found SafeNet  in 2003, and returned to Santa Barbara that year to assist the community in recovery. As a poet, writer, and activist engaged in the healing process, Fericano often challenges survivors and others to look for humor in the shadows.

          If you believe you were a victim of clergy abuse by a member of the Franciscan religious order of the Province of St. Barbara while attending St. Anthony’s Seminary in Santa Barbara, or at any other Franciscan seminary, parish or facility, or if you are a family member of a survivor, a former schoolmate, a parishioner, or anyone else who may have been impacted by the abuse, please contact the Office of Pastoral Outreach for Survivors of Clergy Abuse (OPO) by calling: (800) 770-8013. Pastoral outreach coordinator Angelica Jochim, MFT, is available for assistance and support. All communications are private and confidential. Your identity will not be revealed to the Franciscans. For more information visit the OPO website at: www.pastoraloutreach.org

Home Page Photo Credit: Doc Searls, St. Anthony's Seminary, November 9, 2002