Cecilia Mendez sees her new position as the Victim Assistance Coordinator for the Diocese as an ideal joining of her profession and her faith.
A Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist (LMFT) and a lifelong Catholic, Mendez takes over the ministry vacated this year by Sister Rosaline O’Connor, RSM, who returned to Ireland.
“If I can bridge those two worlds – our faith and mental health – I was looking for that opportunity,” Mendez says. “Because of my background as a Catholic I think I can understand bits and pieces of things that need support.
“I’m not the person who just sends a card once a year.”
The Victim Assistance Coordinator position was created in the wake of the clergy sexual abuse crisis to provide pastoral support and mental health support to those who came forward with allegations of having been abused. They provide an important, constant source of connection for victims with the diocese. As they walk with victims on their journey, the Victim Assistance Coordinator also connects victims to further professional counseling services if needed and desired.
Mendez currently has a private counseling practice and also works at Loma Linda University Medical Center’s Behavioral Health Institute. Her past experience working in a recovering sex offender unit at Loma Linda has given her some important background in the area of forensics, the detection of crimes related to abuse.
This has brought her experience in interviewing and communicating with victims of abuse, she says.
The Victim Assistance Coordinator position has traditionally been a solitary one, but Mendez said she looks forward to collaborating with other diocesan ministries that are addressing mental health crises, such as the Department of Life, Dignity and Justice.
While those who have been abused by clergy or other church personnel have often lost trust and connection with the Church, Mendez sees her new role as laying out a path for reconciliation.
“I don’t think they want to get rid of their faith,” she says. “They want to be healed.
Mendez grew up in Riverside and attended St. Anthony of Padua Parish there. Today, she resides in Moreno Valley and attends St. Patrick parish there.