Loudfence are attending St Marie’s Cathedral, Norfolk Row, Sheffield S1 2JB
Sunday 14th July at 11.30am to facilitate a Loudfence event.
What is Loudfence?
A Loudfence is a gathering of people outside of a church, where attendees are invited to tie a ribbon with a message onto the railings of the church.
The messages are words of love, support and compassion for survivors of abuse, whether childr
en, adults, clergy or religious from within our communities, who have been abused themselves, or have been affected by the abuse crisis. It is a ‘loud’ visual message, to be seen by all who will pass by the brightly coloured ribbons and perhaps even be moved enough by the display to come forwards if they have been affected by abuse.
Why Loudfence?
The Church acknowledges its failings as part of the abuse crisis. Abuse that has been carried out by people within its institution, whether lay member, clergy or religious. The responses to survivors have been found not just lacking, but have contributed to further harm and distress for survivors.
It feels that there is little that the Church can do to make atonement for such harms. However, we are committed as a Diocese to make every effort to offer atonement, to be a place of safety and sanctuary where those harmed feel confident of a supportive response to disclosures, and we strive to move forward on a journey of accompaniment, compassion and care, with survivors of abuse.
The Loudfence event is just one of the ways in which we will try to do this, and we acknowledge that there is so much more for us to do.
We invite you to join us at St Marie’s Cathedral at 11.30am on Sunday 14th July, as members of our Church Community, to add your own message of support to the railings. If you are unable to attend on the day but would like to leave a message of support, please email modonnelly@hallam-diocese.com so that your message may be added to the railings for you.
Due to capacity issues, we kindly invite you to Livestream the mass at 10.30am if you wish to participate in the mass prior to the event.
https://stmariecathedral.org/mass-worship/welcome-to-our-mass-livestream/
Please feel free to share the below poster to promote this event amongst your friends and family.
