The woman said she attended a Catholic school in Baltimore. One gym teacher at the school would walk the students to a playground in Fells Point, she recalled.

“That’s when he attacked,” the woman said.

Because she came from a family of devout Catholics, she said, “I buried it. I buried it so deep.”

She said the abuse led her to “promiscuous behavior.” She gave birth to a son when she was 13. When he approached her years later to tell her that he had been molested, she told him to remain quiet, because that’s what she had done when she was a child, the woman recalled.

The woman said much of her family doesn’t know what she experienced. Overcoming initial reservations, she decided to speak publicly, saying she no longer wanted to suffer silently.

“That’s what today is about, for me to start my true healing,” she said.

Lori looked on somberly during the testimony, at times appearing moved. He seemed to maintain eye contact with the speakers for most of the time they testified.

The archbishop said he decided to attend — a choice that few Catholic leaders have made during bankruptcy proceedings in other dioceses — because he learned long ago that listening to those who have been abused plays a significant role in their recovery.

At the end of the hearing Lori, who said he has met many abuse survivors privately over the years, conceded that listening to Monday’s testimony was not easy.

“It’s always devastating to hear the stories,” he said. “Not as devastating as what the victims have undergone, but it is very, very saddening. It just resonates into my soul.”

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