GENEVA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Friday, May 2, 2014
Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( European cell +39 366 1160224, U.S. cell +1 312 399 4747, Rome hotel- +39 06 598591; SNAPblaine@gmail.com )
First, we humbly ask that you keep in mind that we are convinced that hundreds of innocent children and vulnerable adults are being sexually violated, tortured and assaulted – right now, today – by Catholic clerics.
Second, we ask that you keep in mind that torture and violence can be subtle and manipulative. Or it can be blatant and brutal. Either way, it’s horribly destructive to the human spirit, especially when inflicted on the young by the powerful, on the truly devout by the allegedly “holy.”
For 25 years, we in SNAP have tirelessly tried – using every means and methods we could imagine – to get Catholic officials to stop clergy child rapes and sexual violence. We have tried every tactic we could, from politely writing to and speaking with Cardinals, bishops and other church officials, to meeting with panels and committees established by dioceses, religious communities and national bishops’ conferences, to speaking at parish and public forums and begging parishioners to speak up. We have held demonstrations and passed out flyers in all weather conditions in hundreds of cities in dozens of countries. We have written letters to the editors in newspapers, met with police agencies, prosecutors and lawmakers. Nothing has succeeded in getting Vatican officials to stop this violence.
But keep in mind: kids are being assaulted and lives are being wrecked, while Catholic officials split hairs and make technical claims, ducking, dodging and denying responsibility in this forum as they have done for decades in other forums.
We are grateful for this opportunity to address you. You see just a few of us here. But there are hundreds of thousands of us who have had our innocence shattered by being raped and sexually violated by Catholic employees who commit and conceal heinous crimes against children.
We belong to a growing global community of victims of torture, sexual violence and rape called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests or SNAP. We were founded in 1988 with the simple mission to heal the wounded and to protect the innocent.
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