CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015
Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 312 399 4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com )
We applaud the first-ever clergy sex abuse and cover-up lawsuit, just filed in Chicago, that accuses Catholic officials of perpetuating a “public nuisance.”
These “nuisance” suits have helped to disclose more deeply-held and embarrassing church secrets in Minnesota. We hope this suit will do so in Illinois.
Many assume that the public knows all about the Fr. Daniel McCormack case. It does not. We are convinced there is crucial information about how Chicago Catholic officials dealt with this notorious predator that church figures are still hiding. Just as important, we believe, is information about other clerics who committed and concealed awful crimes against kids that is similarly still being hidden.
Archdiocesan officials have put out a very sanitized version of how they handled pedophile priests. Parents, police, parishioners, prosecutors and the public deserve more. We hope this new, ground-breaking suit will pry that helpful information out of the files, hands and mouths of current and former top Catholic officials here.
Kids are still being assaulted by Catholic clergy. Bishops are still hiding predator priests. So something more and new must be tried so that more of the truth can be revealed, more of the wrongdoers can be exposed, and more of the vulnerable can be protected.
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