UNITED STATES
Christian Post
By Luiza Oleszczuk, Christian Post Reporter
March 21, 2012
A victims advocacy organization alleging pressure from lawyers representing the Roman Catholic Church to hand over confidential documents related to clergy sex abuse cases claims the tactics being used are akin to “bullying” and “intimidation.” Church officials deny, however, that any tactics are being used to pressure the group.
The advocacy group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, has been uniting clergy sex abuse victims since 1991, offering counseling, group support and legal advisement. The group is known for having filed a lawsuit against top Vatican leaders, including Pope Benedict XVI, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague in Sept. 2011.
When lawyers representing the Catholic Church in two sexual abuse cases, one in Kansas and one in Missouri, requested in Dec. 2011 that SNAP release confidential documents, including emails between the organization and abuse victims as well as whistle-blowers and witnesses, SNAP viewed the request as a form of harassment.
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