“A beautiful broken life” is how today’s Cincinnati Enquirer describes the amazing, often frightening, ultimately uplifting saga of a sexual abuse victim and his harrowing journey of faith.

“A priest abused him as a child,” the newspaper’s front page says, referring readers to a six-page special section inside. “Michael Vanderburgh still became a champion for his church.”

Mr. Vanderburgh is chief development officer at the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. The Enquirer’s retelling of his story represents six months of reporting by senior staff writer Dan Horn and photographer Carrie Cochran.

An excerpt:

“Not long after he reported the abuse, Michael started going to counseling and volunteered to sit on the lay committee that reviews the church’s handling of abuse cases. While others picketed church offices, Michael went inside.

“He still attended church every week. He’d married a Catholic and was raising his kids Catholic. He’d decided that while he might not be able to trust institutions or people to do the right thing, he could trust God. And he felt God wanted him to stay in the church.

“He began reciting the same short prayer every morning.

‘Lord, take my brokenness and make something beautiful today.’

“Many of his fellow abuse survivors thought he was crazy….’This is our church,’ he told them. He said they should fight for it, not abandon it.”

Read this inspiring journey of faith and mercy here.

(Below: The Enquirer’s Carrie Cochran photographs Mr. Vanderburgh with a friend Downtown.)