The Diocese hosted a third LOUDfence event on the evening of the 19th May 2026 at Holy Rosary Church in Sunderland.
Bishop Stephen led the mass, concelebrated by Fr Marc Lyden-Smith, Fr Jeff Dodds and Fr Martin Morris.
The event was organised by Antoni Sobocki, a victims and survivors activist with this year’s theme ‘Stitching the fabric of the church back together, one relationship at a time’.
The ex-votos (artwork left at a shrine or church as a vow or in gratitude for healing) were two pieces of a heart brought back together in the love of the church.
An attendee said that they had been ‘very moved by the evening‘ and that it was ‘heartening to see that the Church took events which highlight the suffering of victims seriously.’
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