http://snaparch.com/snap_statements/2011_statements/022411_snap_statement_regarding_archdiocese_of_philadelphia.htm
SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release: Thursday, February 24, 2011
SNAP response to Archdiocese apology
Statement by David Clohessy Executive Director 314566 9790 [email protected]
Apologies are appropriate after a crisis. The Philadelphia clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis is far from over. A Catholic district attorney and an impartial grand jury found that there are roughly 34 credibly accused child molesting clerics around kids in Philadelphia right now. "Job one" must be ousting and "outing" those predators, so that children are safer.
During a crisis, the top priority is the protection of the vulnerable, not the restoration of "trust."
The Philadelphia church hierarchy is half right: "Youth sports organizations, public schools, community groups and other faith communities all report incidents of abuse." Catholic officials conveniently neglect to mention, however, that in none of these other organization are widespread, callous cover ups of child sex crimes so clearly documented. Catholic staff often try to get us to focus on the “bad apple” predators and ignore the complicit bishops who often enable and conceal the predators’ crimes.
Archdiocesan officials whine that “Few have been forced to look as extensively at the horror of child sexual abuse perpetrated within their organizations . . .” This is a sad effort by corrupt officials to try and posture as "victims."
There should, of course, be more examination of abuse and cover up in every institution. But there’s a reason that “few have been forced to look as extensively at the horror of child sexual abuse,” as the church. It’s because few institutions, if any, have so severely hurt so many for so long through so many devastating crimes and duplicitous cover ups.
Finally, apologies seem insincere when coupled with gripes that "others are bad too." It's just wrong and immature for Philadelphia Catholic officials to claim that child sexual abuse of minors "is being addressed in only one sector of society, the Catholic Church." It insults the fine work that many institutions are doing and have done to better safeguard kids. More important, it's another clumsy, insensitive and a bald-faced public relations move to deflect attention and exaggerate the few belated, begrudging and often self-serving steps taken in recent years by a justifiably-criticized church hierarchy.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 10,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected] ), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected] ), Peter Isely (414-429-7259, [email protected] ), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected] )
http://cst-phl.com/we-are-sorry-p2384-84.htm
We are sorry
We are sorry.
We, the Church, are the lay men, women and children; the religious who pray for us and work with us; the deacons, priests and bishops who lead us and bring us the divine graces of the Catholic sacramental system.
We, the Church, are sorry for the sexual abuse suffered by our brothers and sisters when they were young people at the hands of the Church’s clergymen and teachers. The Church is sorry for the sins and crimes of some members against other members. The Church begs forgiveness of our brothers and sisters, and of almighty God.
“We are sorry” are three words nearly as powerful as “I forgive you” or “I love you.” In each case, though, words are not enough. They must be accompanied by action.
It took the nationwide clergy sexual abuse scandal of 2002 and Philadelphia grand jury investigations in 2005 and just this month to prompt action in the Archdiocese and in every diocese in the United States. Those actions helped to train tens of thousands of parents and adults locally who work with children to spot signs of potential abuse, and prevent it from happening. Other actions set up ways to care for and compensate adult victims of abuse, and to remove from ministry and/or employment credibly accused Church personnel.
Even with those actions and new ones enacted by the Archdiocese last week, the problem of sexual abuse of minors is being addressed, albeit imperfectly, in only one sector of society, the Catholic Church. Youth sports organizations, public schools, community groups and other faith communities all report incidents of abuse. Few have been forced to look as extensively at the horror of child sexual abuse perpetrated within their organizations or to enact broad policies to prevent it.
The Catholic Church’s members suffer from the sins and crimes of the past and mistakes made in addressing them. But this suffering has meaning because it sheds light on the issue for all society to see. Every American must recognize that one in six boys and one in four girls are victims of sexual abuse before age 18. Child sexual abuse must be brought out from behind whispers in the community and dealt with as strongly or better than the processes now underway in the Church.
We, the Church, may find it hard to trust that the latest policies and actions will be effective. Trust begins to be rebuilt as members reflect upon those actions. And trust begins by reflecting on three words.
We are sorry.
http://www.snapdfw.org/index.php?m=06&y=10&entry=entry100611-033827
SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release: 6/10/10 at 5:00 p.m. (in USA)
Pope speaks of "secondary scandals;" Clergy abuse victims respond
Statement by David Clohessy of SNAP
Tonight, the Pope passed up a perfect chance to
--- announce bold steps that actually safeguard children,
--- urge thousands of priests to call police if they see or suspect or learn of child sex crimes, and
--- acknowledge and thank the few, brave whistleblower priests like Fr. Thomas Doyle, Fr. James Scahill and others who have found the strength, courage and compassion to expose their corrupt, predatory colleagues and supervisors.
We're very sad because every day that the Pope refuses to take decisive action to protect kids is heartbreaking. Every time he tries to minimize the ongoing clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis, by using phrases like "secondary scandal," it's hurtful to victims, children and many Catholics. Every time he suggests that decades of concealing crimes are mere "insufficiencies," he digs the church deeper into an already cavernous, unhealthy, and depressing hole.
http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/2010_statements/061110_victims_respond_pope_fails_to_take_action.htm
SNAP Press Statement
For immediate release: Friday, June 11, 2010
Victims respond: Pope fails to take action
Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago IL (USA), president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Forgiveness comes after, not during, a crisis. Right now, kids are being assaulted by priests and bishops are concealing the crimes. And the Pope continues taking no action to stop this.
The Pope still ignores the crux of the crisis – the on-going recklessness, deceit and callousness of bishops who, even now, protect predators instead of children.
Some speculated that the Pope would, this week, announce a global church abuse policy. He didn’t. He isn’t even promising one.
He did, however, make an oblique exhortation to “do everything possible” to stop abuse. But real “carrots” and “sticks” alter behavior. Substantive structural and cultural change alters behavior. Vague, one sentence pledges don’t.
A promise is nominally more helpful than an apology. But promises are usually easy to make, hard to keep, and broken often if there's no oversight or penalties. That's especially true in a monarchy with no checks and balances or real accountability mechanisms. And that's why such pledges by bishops to “do more,” even now, in the US and elsewhere, are so frequently ignored.
In our 22 years of experience, we have learned four steps actually safeguard kids: exposing child predators, punishing complicit wrong-doers, launching independent investigations and reforming secular laws. Bishops’ pledges – whether informal and verbal or formal and written - often don’t actually lead to any progress like this.
We show what’s important to us, in part, by who we reward and who we punish. When clearly complicit men like Cardinal Bernard Law are essentially rewarded and promoted, it’s clear that recklessness, callousness and deceit are important. When brave whistleblowers like Fr. Tom Doyle are punished and demoted, it’s clear that courage and truth-telling are not important.
Fundamentally, this is more a crisis of church structure and culture than of church managers and employees. Any church promises of action on abuse and cover up are inherently problematic because of the church’s ancient, unhealthy monarchical structure and culture. One man (the Pope) allegedly supervises some 5,000 top managers (bishops) spread across the globe. That’s just unworkable. So, in practice, each bishop is the lord of his own kingdom, answerable to virtually no one. So each bishop can basically do almost whatever he likes with child-molesting-clerics and deeply-hurting-victims, and virtually never face scrutiny or discipline for even the most egregious wrong-doing. (Remember, no bishop has ever been fired, defrocked, excommunicated or even publicly excoriated by the Vatican for ignoring or hiding dozens or even hundreds of predator priests. In history, fewer than ten bishops have resigned because they’ve ignored or concealed child sex crimes.)
The root cause of this horrific and on-going clergy sex abuse and cover-up crisis remains the nearly limitless power of bishops.
The real solution to the scandal must therefore involve reducing the power of bishops, and increasing the power of secular authorities to safeguard children. This should involve three parts.
--First, independent, thorough investigations into the extent of cover ups of clergy sexual abuse in each Catholic entity – dioceses, schools, and religious orders. (Only when a crisis is understood can it then be effectively addressed.)
--Second, aggressive and creative use of existing laws to criminally pursue child molesting clerics and their complicit colleagues and supervisors.
--Third, eliminating or reforming predator-friendly laws that give child sex offenders and their enablers incentive to destroy evidence, threaten witnesses, intimidate victims, fabricate alibis, and flee the country.
Still, no matter what secular officials do or don’t do, the ancient, rigid, secretive, self-serving and all-male church hierarchy can, and must, take steps to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, expose the truth and deter future recklessness, callousness and deceit.
There must be a world-wide Catholic policy against clergy sex crimes and cover ups that is widely enforced. And we still don’t have it.
Statement by David Clohessy of St Louis, (USA) Executive Director of SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790)
The Pope passed up a perfect chance to
--- announce bold steps that actually safeguard children,
--- urge thousands of priests to call police if they see or suspect or learn of child sex crimes, and
--- acknowledge and thank the few, brave whistleblower priests like Fr. Thomas Doyle, Fr. James Scahill and others who have found the strength, courage and compassion to expose their corrupt, predatory colleagues and supervisors.
Every day that the Pope refuses to take decisive action to protect kids is heartbreaking. Every time he tries to minimize the ongoing clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis, by using phrases like "secondary scandal," it's hurtful to victims, children and many Catholics. Every time he suggests that decades of concealing crimes are mere "insufficiencies," he digs the church deeper into an already cavernous, unhealthy, and depressing hole.
FOR INTERVIEWS
In Rome:
--- Three SNAP leaders are at the Hotel Cicerone, Via Cicerone 55, 00193 (tel +39 06 35.76). They are Joelle Casteix 338-456-7942 (Italian cell) [email protected] , Peter Isely 338-456-7879 (Italian cell), and Barbara Dorris 314-503-0003 [email protected]
In the US:
--- David Clohessy is at 314 566 9790 (cell), 314 645 5915 (home), [email protected]
--- Barbara Blaine is at 312 399 4747, [email protected]
--- Dozens of other clergy sex abuse victims who belong to SNAP are listed on our website: SNAPnetwork.org under the button “Contact SNAP”
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 22 years and have more than 9,000 members across the country. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
