In high school here in the early 1970s, when Gonzaga Prep was an all-boys high school and Marycliff and Holy Names were all-girls schools, we sometimes went on dates together to Mass at Prep’s chapel.

That chapel was eventually torn down, and student Masses have been held in the gym for years now. Friday morning, Gonzaga Prep students crowded into a new chapel, dedicated last week.

Most of the money for the $2.6 million chapel was raised in the past two years, during the most painful time in the history of our region’s Catholic community. Stories of clergy sex abuse surfaced from decades past, involving priests from the Spokane Diocese as well as priests in the Jesuit order. Victims stepped forward and told their stories, and many have sued.

To settle its claims, the Spokane Diocese filed for bankruptcy, and if a bankruptcy plan is approved in late April every Catholic in the Diocese will be asked to contribute to a $48 million settlement for more than 150 abuse victims. The parishes must come up with $10 million. This money will come from the people in the pews.

It might surprise some non-Catholics, but strong-arm tactics and guilt aren’t used to collect money from Catholics, because neither works anymore.

I may well be proved wrong, but I have a hunch that the $10 million will be pledged and raised quickly, even if, as expected, more than half of Catholics here don’t participate. Some who won’t participate are angry about the settlement terms. Some are angry that lawyers will get a chunk of the money. And some are angry at the victims, believe it or not.

Still, I have confidence about that $10 million. It will be a sacrifice for individuals and for parishes, yes, but the Catholics who contribute will do so for many reasons. Those of us who have listened to the survivors’ stories – unfortunately, many Catholics have not – understand the lifelong damage caused by the abuse. Money alone won’t repair the damage, but it’s an essential part of the reparation.

Others will do it because they see this as a church issue. Clergy members were the abusers. The hierarchy colluded. But it’s time for the real healing to begin. This will require a churchwide effort.

I also believe people will contribute because Catholics build things, and the threat of losing the churches and schools finally awakened the laity to the gravitas of this abuse crisis.

In the middle of it all, the $2.6 million was quietly being raised for the new Gonzaga Prep chapel. (By the way, Gonzaga Prep is an independent Jesuit school and not a diocesan school.) Some of the 440 donors were Prep alums who live out of town. But some live in Spokane, attend parishes here and will be asked to donate to the settlement.

As Al Falkner, Prep’s president, walked me through the chapel, he said, “This is a beacon of hope for us. The Gonzaga Prep community came together to build a church.”

Every Friday morning, from 10:35 to 11:25, Mass is held for the students. It’s entirely optional, just as going on dates to Prep’s chapel 30 years ago was optional for us. About one third of the school’s 900 students usually attend; the rest do study hall. The new chapel seats 383. Friday morning, the pews were packed and dozens of students sat on the floor, happy to be there.

Over the course of the abuse crisis, many Catholics experienced the emotions associated with death and dying, including denial and despair. Friday, for the first time in a long time, I felt some real hope. The young people gave me that hope. May there be no more abuse and no more secrets in the church they will lead into the future.

Sunlight poured through the chapel’s skylight. The students sang together the opening hymn, written by Lutheran composer Marty Haugen: Here in this place, new light is streaming. Now is the darkness, vanished away. See in this space, our fears and our dreamings.