UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by David Clohessy on October 15, 2012
A Catholic priest who faces at least seven allegations of sexual harassment is scheduled to speak tomorrow at religious conference in Orlando.
Fr. Dan Ward, a monk from St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville, MN, was accused last week of abusing five men and two women while he was a teacher at St. John’s in the 1970’s. The offenses alleged range from unwanted physical contact to threats of failing students for not complying with his advances.
Leaders of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, are upset that Catholic officials are letting Fr. Ward lead a seminar despite the multiple allegations against him, and are calling on officials Maryland-based The Resource Center for Religious Institutes to stop Ward from speaking at their conference this week.
“Once again, despite all the bishops’ promises of alleged reform, another credibly accused predator is still on the job in the church and being given a position of prestige,” said David Clohessy, SNAP Director. “This, of course, rubs salt in to the already-deep and still fresh wounds of his victims and which enables him to earn the trust of more unsuspecting Catholic families.”
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