UNITED STATES
KNAU
By Jonathan Blakley
Pope Francis has now been installed and the world’s Catholics are looking to see where he will lead the church. But one man in Rome has been trying to make sure the Vatican also deals with the church’s troubled past.
David Clohessy, who says he was a victim of sexual abuse at a young age by a Catholic priest, is the director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. By his count, he held 15 news conferences in Rome in the weeks leading up to the conclave at the Vatican.
Some of them at the Orange Hotel were packed, others were empty.
Clohessy soldiered on, and S.N.A.P. has mailed letters and sent faxes to the Vatican, hoping for a meeting or some type of response from Pope Francis. The group feels the issue of sexual abuse might fade away amid the fascination with a newly elected Pope who has charmed the public and the media.
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