RESIDENTS of Ararat may have noticed the many colourful ribbons tied around the front fence of St Mary's Catholic Church.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
These are not for decoration, but are to raise awareness and acknowledge an important, but harrowing, cause. Called the Loud Project, the act of tying a brightly coloured ribbon around Catholic church fences began in Ballarat in response to the Royal Commission into the clergy and institutional abuse.
Father Andrew Hayes, Parish Priest at St Mary's Catholic Church, explains the project’s significance.
“The loudness of it is a statement that people have not been heard by the church for far too long, so they’re being loud now,” Fr Hayes said.
“That’s been part of the gift of the Royal Commission – people are being heard and hopefully feeling heard too. People have been putting out the ribbons to support victims and survivors of abuse and to express their anger at having being hurt by clergy.”
It was the people of Ararat that followed Ballarat’s lead; starting the Loud Project with the ribbons appearing on the church’s fence since last May, much to the delight of Fr Hayes.
“I was delighted by that because it was speaking the truth (that) we haven’t been heard and we want the hurt to stop. We want to feel heard and come to some healing and peace,” he said.
“The Royal Commission in Ballarat is about us in Ararat too. We’re part of the Ballarat diocese. I, for my part, have been encouraging people since then to go and join this.
“We’re hurt and angry and looking for some healing.”
Fr Hayes, who has been in Ararat for 14 months, said the response to the project has been wonderful.
“My classmates (from school) were abused so I’m fully supporting that never happening again.”
The Ararat priest also wears his support for the abuse victims.
“I had my mother sew a stole with ribbons on it in the last week and it’s important for me that I’m actually being the fence,” Fr Hayes said.
“It puts on the disgrace of the priest and the church – it’s a difficult thing to wear. It’s personal. It’s my friends who are hurt and my priests that hurt them.”