Apology from the Pope...

Well it has taken the Catholic Church long enough to get balls and stand up against these pedophiles but they did. There has been a cover up of sexual molestation for over three decades and it seems like when victims were vocal they were paid off or the the priest or father was relocated. I give some credit to Pope Francis for standing up to the occasion but why was he and so many others silent? The numerous amount of families that have been shattered from these heinous crimes are reprehensible. It seems like the place your suppose to feel safe was a facade.

When I was born they christened me and I had confirmation when I was ten. I grew up Catholic until my mother joined a non denominational church when I was twelve. Our church was small and located in Cocoa Beach, Florida a nice place where everybody knew everybody. We always had visitors from Patrick Airforce Base with families, so for me it was treat. As an only child church was where you could let your hair down, and learn about Jesus. My Sunday school teacher was a middle aged white woman named Mrs. Meredith, she was like from a story book character real nice, mannerable and patient. Though I was always baffled by the scripture Ephesian 6:5 "Slaves obey your masters" what did that mean? Why would a loving God put that in the bible? What Mrs. Meredith didn't know is that I had watched ROOTS. I asked folks in the church why is that written in the bible, the reply was the bible was written a long time ago so God was speaking to the disobedient slaves. My next question was why would God put in the bible one man is better than another man the series of questions came in like the waves going in and out with the tide.

No matter what your religion catholic, baptist, methodist, muslim, lutheran, buddhist, pentecostal sexual assault is wrong. I am not clear what possesses folks to want to rape a child, but they are out there.

It seems like society knows we have psychos but we only deal with the sickness when we or someone close to us have been assaulted. I can truly say as a filmmaker this is the most difficult film I have produced. Not only do folks want to stay away from the topic but they don't want to hear how we can prevent some of the assaults or even hear that the survivors need help. Society has showed me it is better to be silent than to talk about an issue that makes the general public uncomfortable. The ironic shyt is that if your uncomfortable about talking about it how the hell do I feel opening myself up and sharing my personal experience. How uncomfortable I was being raped and nobody to help me at fifteen years old. How uncomfortable it was to answer questions who the father of my child was. How uncomfortable it was to welcome a child into the world who came from a violent rape.

Johnnie Lee Smith Photography

I am truly grateful for my daughter and the experiences in my life, they have made me who I am today. As a mother I wasn't perfect but I tried my best with counseling and love to make sure she was loved unconditionally. I believe squeezing this lemon in my hand hard as I can I will produce lemonade to heal other survivors after me. I am also thankful for the Pope recognizing the churches wrong and addressing it. Deep down inside though I don't identify with catholicism, a part of me still appreciates the apology.

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Thank you for listening and enjoy your journey we call life...