MONTANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Monday, July 14, 2014
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com )
For almost two weeks, a toll free phone line giving information to victims of clergy sex abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Helena has malfunctioned.
This is problematic for several reasons, including the fact that there’s a rigid deadline by which victims must come forward to get help, because Helena Catholic officials are exploiting U.S. bankruptcy laws to keep clergy sex crimes and cover ups covered up.
Never mind what lawyers do or don’t do. The person responsible for the crimes of child molesting clerics is the bishop. The person whose duty it is to reach out to those hurt by predator priests is the bishop.
Bishop George Leo Thomas of Helena must step up efforts to find and help victims now. He should personally visit every parish where pedophile priests worked, begging victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to speak up. He should post the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accuse child molesting cleric in every parish bulletin. He should apologize profusely for his error and more aggressively than ever seek out those who are in pain because Catholic priests assaulted kids and Catholic officials hid those crimes.
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