BELLEVILLE (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Victims blast bishop on spending
He remodels home again & goes abroad
And he’s still paying 7 or 8 predator clerics
Only two of 17 abusers have been defrocked
Church is monitoring & housing none of them
Group says “kids still at risk” 20 years after crisis erupted
Despite pledging “openness,” diocese won’t reveal # of victims
SNAP: Once “ahead of the curve,” Belleville diocese is now “far behind”
WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will disclose that Belleville’s Catholic bishop (who’s admitted misusing church funds before):
— is renovating his home again, for the second time in seven years, and
— quietly went to Africa last month (and has several times in recent years).
They will urge him to:
— urge him to reveal who paid for the trips, and his alleged new kitchen renovation, and
— beg him to stay home, house predator priests, monitor them, and
— reveal how many boys and girls have been sexually assaulted by Belleville priests.
WHEN
TODAY, Monday, Aug. 5 at 1:30 p.m.
WHERE
Outside the Belleville Catholic Diocese HQ, 222 S. Third St., Belleville IL
WHO
At least one long-time Belleville Catholic and activist along with two-three members of a support group called SNAP (the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), including a St. Louis man who is the group’s long time director
WHY
It’s been exactly 20 years since the first of 17 Belleville clerics was accused of molesting a child and suspended. In what was a then-unprecedented scandal, over the next three years, the diocese saw roughly 10% of its active duty priests ousted because of credible child sex abuse allegations.
Only two of them, however, have been defrocked. Seven are still being paid, SNAP believes. And none are being watched, the group says, needlessly leaving kids at risk.
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