CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Victor Stewart
Kenneth Brigham
Emmanuel A. Pallikunnen
Victims focus on 3 predator priests
Two are new, “outed” for 1st time this week
Neither has attracted public attention in Chicago
One eventually went to India, the other to Las Vegas
The 3rd is the most prolific abuser: at least 35 victims
He worked mostly in African American neighborhoods
WHAT
As church-goers enter mass, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will hand out fliers highlighting three predator priests whose records were released this week.
Two of them were “outed” for the first time on Tuesday. The third is perhaps Chicago’s most prolific predator priest (with at least 35 victims).
The leaflets urge Chicago Catholics to
–help them track down where other suspected or defrocked pedophile priests are living or working now, so their unsuspecting neighbors might be warned that dangerous men are nearby,
–ask their loved ones if any of them were hurt by child molesting clerics, and
–insist that archdiocesan officials punish the “enablers” – the church staffers who ignored or hid evidence or warnings of clergy sex crimes, especially those clerics whose names appear in the soon-to-be-released records.
WHEN
Sunday, Jan. 26 at 11:45 a.m.
WHERE
On the sidewalk outside Holy Name Cathedral, North State St at Superior St, Chicago
WHO
Four-five adults who belong to a self-help group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org). Some were molested as kids; others are concerned Catholics.
WHY
For weeks, Chicago Catholic officials (including a church attorney) suggested that there would be no new names of predator priests disclosed when 6,000 pages of long-secret archdiocesan clergy sex abuse and cover up files were made public. They were deceptive.
The documents released on Tuesday included records on two now-deceased pedophile priests who had never before been public accused: Fr. Kenneth Brigham and Fr. Emmanuel A. Pallikunnen.
The records also show that Fr. Vincent [Victor] Stewart is perhaps the most prolific Chicago predator priest, having at least 35 victims (nine of whom say another priest (whose name is redacted in the church files) observed, witnessed or knew about Stewart’s crimes. One victim reported to another priest about his abuse by Stewart and that priest told the victim “he would pray about it” but did not report it to police. In 2005, several victims filed a complaint accusing Chicago police of complicity in Stewart’s abuse by silencing some victims when they tried to tell in the 1990s.
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