PITTSBURGH (PA)
WESA
By DEANNA GARCIA
Members of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is taking news about two abuse case settlements to call on the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh to better notify the public when a priest has been accused of sexual misconduct.
The priests in question had both worked in Pittsburgh, though the abuse allegations come from other places they worked.
“Any time that there’s a priest who has been accused in the court of law, we are under the impression that the Pittsburgh Diocese will automatically reach out to the churches, reach out to the congregations, let them know and actively pursue to see if there are any victims,” said SNAP’s Frances Samber. “But they’re not doing that in the case of these two priests and we’re just asking why.”
A sex abuse cases against priests Alan E. Caparella and Richard Deakin were settled in separate states outside of Pennsylvania.
The Rev. Ron Lengwin, spokesman for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh, said the men in question were not diocesan priests but belonged to religious orders, so it was the order’s responsibility to follow up.
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