BishopAccountability.org
	SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) Needs Our Help. By Frank Cocozzelli The Open Tabernacle: Here Comes Everybody January 9, 2010 http://opentabernacle.wordpress.com/2010/01/09/snap-needs-our-help/ For the last 21 years SNAP has been a voice for Catholics seeking answers and reform from the hierarchy on pedophilia. In that time it has bravely demanded an end to the shell game of moving predatory priests as well as the seemingly endless series of cover-ups of incidents of sexual abuse. In its mission statement the group tells us that it is “…a volunteer self-help organization of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters.” And it does so by “By supporting one another in personal healing” as well as “By pursuing justice and institutional change by holding individual perpetrators responsible and the church accountable.” SNAP’s many accomplishments include: A young man whose father is a priest who was struggling with an aggressive and advanced form of brain cancer. SNAP worked with his mother to make the Franciscan order help him maintain his dignity in the final days of his life and to reach out to others. Two brave survivors who informed SNAP that the Diocese of Bridgeport paid them settlements for abuse by two priests who remain in ministry. With SNAP’s help they were able to expose this dangerous situation and warn the community. A survivor who learned that a priest convicted of child abuse in New Jersey, with the help of church officials, had his name legally changed and was quietly sent to a parish in rural Missouri, where he molested again. Hundreds of survivors and family members who wanted information and strategies for coping with the pain and other consequences of sexual abuse by clergy. For those of us who seek both greater accountability as well as greater transparency from the Catholic hierarchy, SNAP has been never hesitated to stand front and center. They are true heroes of the Church. But now SNAP needs your help to keep going. SNAP is the largest and oldest support group run by and for survivors and receives no government nor church support. All its donations come from individuals like you. The organization has been awarded the “Independent Charities Seal of Excellence” which is given to organizations, “that have, upon rigorous independent review, been able to certify, document, and demonstrate on an annual basis that they meet the highest standards of public accountability, program effectiveness, and cost effectiveness. Donations to SNAP are tax deductible.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.