Long-buried tragedy eludes resolution
It's a tragic story. Anne Klassen, now 56, has come forward with an account of terrible sexual abuse at the hands of her father throughout her childhood. The native of Virgil, Ontario says the church her family attended, then called Virgil Mennonite Brethren Church, failed her by not intervening.
Klassen's father died in 1997.
"Every aspect of my life has been dominated and controlled by the attitudes and beliefs of the Mennonite Brethren Church," Klassen said in a statement. She also said Mennonite teachings of non-violence were used to subdue her and that a "conspiracy of silence" prevents the Church from dealing with issues of sexual abuse.
Klassen went public with her story at a Toronto press conference in December, where she told reporters she wouldn't consume anything besides water until the Mennonite community met her requests.
Among other things, she asked the Mennonite Brethren conference to "demonstrate they will object to the rape of a child by one of their own members," agree to report issues of abuse to necessary authorities, appoint a "third party investigative body" to look in to cases of abuse, be "honest, truthful, forthright and transparent" and to "publicly admit that they have developed this paradigm of restorative justice to hold others accountable, but never themselves."
How does the Church respond to this kind of pain?
Vidya Narimalla, chair of the board of faith and life for the Ontario Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches, says the conference has made numerous attempts to contact Klassen since her campaign came to their attention through the media. Klassen hasn't responded to his e-mails except to say that she only wants to communicate through the press, says Narimalla.
"We're very concerned for her health," says Narimalla. He says the conference wants to hear her story and has even offered to pay for third-party mediation.
The conference has a detailed policy, established in 1996, for how to respond to reports of sexual abuse within its churches. Any report of abuse involving a child must be reported to the police.
In a statement, Klassen said her former pastor told her to forgive her father.
Klassen was a married adult who no longer attended the Virgil church when she told a part-time pastor there about the abuse, says Narimalla. "[He] didn't have any authority to do anything at that time."
"Obviously she's in a great deal of pain," says Narimalla. "We feel terrible for what she has gone through and we regret what has happened to her in a church family…we are more than willing to sit down with Anne."
"The whole thing is unbelievably tragic," says David Wiebe, executive director of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren churches. Wiebe says he believes Klassen was abused, and that the church is willing to be part of her healing--if she lets them.
ChristianWeek hasn't been able to speak to Klassen, who didn't reveal her phone number nor her current location at the press conference. E-mailed requests for interviews weren't answered.
A video posted on a website Klassen set up shows her lying in bed with hollows under her eyes. In the video Klassen says it's January 4, day 20 of her water fast.
Pastors, journalists, mediators and counselors are standing by. The ball's in your court, Anne.
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