MICHIGAN
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2013

David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )

Father John Doerfler of the Diocese of Green Bay is the new bishop of Marquette, Michigan. We are disappointed with this promotion.

Doerfler has been a high ranking official in that diocese for some time. It’s a diocese with a terrible track record on clergy sex abuse and cover up cases.

We believe that Fr. Doerfler is also associated with a controversial Catholic group called Courage:

[New York Times]

We hope that as Marquette’s new bishop he will immediately warn parents, parishioners and the public about a former Marquette priest, Fr. Benedict Van der Putten, who was defrocked due to credible child sex abuse allegations and who now lives in Hawaii.

…