Prominent Priest Passes Away

By David Clohessy
SNAP
May 30, 2013

http://www.snapnetwork.org/il_prominent_priest_passes_away

We extend our deepest sympathies to the family of Fr. Andrew Greeley. We agree with them that the church is a better place because of him.

Decades ago, Fr. Greeley made the first substantial donation to SNAP. He was one of the first to publicly address the church's on-going clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis. His columns about the scandal gave hope to many victims and prodded many journalists to begin covering it.

He was criticized and ridiculed when, in 1993, he wrote in a magazine article that roughly 100,000 US kids had been molested by priests. (Last year, according to mainstream media accounts, church abuse experts made the same estimate in a Vatican meeting.)

We don't agree with everything Fr. Greeley said or did. But we are grateful to him for his support, compassion and courage over the last three decades.