BALTIMORE (MD)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
They want independent review of clergy abuses & cover-ups
And they warn more lawsuits will happen if officials don’t act
WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos, child sex abuse victims and their supporters will hand out fliers about child molesting clerics to church members attending the Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting. The leaflets urge Baptists to:
–insist that their church officials hire independent experts to review child sexual abuse scandals, and
–immediately respond to child sexual abuse reports with openness and compassion.
The fliers also
–warn that more victims will start suing Baptist officials unless the church hierarchy begins to take “real steps” to “expose those who commit and conceal clergy sex crimes,” and
-encourage church members to ask their children or loved ones if they were molested by church workers or volunteers and, if so, call police and therapists immediately.
WHEN
Wednesday, June 11 at 11:45am- 1pm
WHERE
Outside the main entrance of the Baltimore Convention Center: One West Pratt Street Baltimore, MD 21201
WHO
4-6 Victims of child sex abuse who are members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org) including the mom of a child sex abuse victim who is suing a Montgomery County-based ministry with ties to the Baptists.
WHY
Thousands of Baptists from across the U.S. are in Baltimore this week for their annual convention, and abuse victims want the church-goers to prod their denominational hierarchy to take child sex abuse cases more seriously. (Southern Baptists are the second largest religious group in the nation.)
Twice in recent months, SNAP leaders wrote to Dr. Frank Page, head of the Southern Baptist Convention, asking to speak at this meeting, to help the SBC in shaping practices and policies that help prevent abuse and cover ups. SNAP also asked the SBC to hire and consult with an independent organization called GRACE (Godly Response to Abuse in the Christian Environment) for an independent expert review of the scandal involving a convicted child sex offender and Baptist minister John Langworthy of Mississippi and Texas.
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