“The more time I spent with Wojnowski, the more I came to see the alleged abuse as a double injury. It hadn’t just claimed the life he might have lived. It had also stolen his ability to trust the very people—lawyers, therapists—perhaps best able to win him some measure of justice, or peace.”  – Arial Sabar, Washingtonian

If you live, work, and or drive in Washington, then no doubt you have seen John Wojnowski. More than once, I suspect.

Wojnowski’s the guy who has been standing outside the Vatican Embassy (Apostolic Nunciature) on the corner of Massachusetts Ave. & Reno Rd. for almost 14 years now, holding a variety of signs, protesting Catholic sexual abuse of children.

I’ve probably driven by him at least 1,000 times (he’s been there more than 5,000 days now) and wondered just what’s the story.

It’s a sad one.

In the July 2012 issue of Washingtonian magazine, Ariel Sabar, author of the excellent memoir My Father’s Paradise, has written a long piece, detailing Wojnowski’s 14 year crusade.

It will tell you almost everything you might want to know, and more, about John Wojnowski and what even one time sexual abuse can do to a young boy, for his whole life.

Some of it is inspiring, but for me it’s mostly a sad story of a life destroyed.

I don’t think I’ll ever drive by this man (he’s there everyday from about 4-8 PM) without thinking about what Sabar has written.

One Man’s Crusade Against Pedophiles in the Catholic Church, by Ariel Sabar, Washingtonian, 2012.