IN–Victims urge Notre Dame to act on predator

INDIANA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests

For immediate release: Friday, June 26

Statement by Barbra Graber, leader of SNAP Mennonite Chapter, Mennonite@SNAPnetwork.org, 540-214-8874

Officials at Notre Dame are refusing to admit widely-documented and repeated sexual misconduct by a high profile former professor who worked on campus for two decades. We call on university staff to investigate his abuse and school cover ups and reach out to his victims.

[National Catholic Reporter]

[National Catholic Reporter]

In two new stories, The National Catholic Reporter says

— John Howard Yoder had “a long history of predatory behavior toward women, especially young female students.”

–“Notre Dame officials became aware of his previous sexual misconduct in the early 1980s, years before alleged victims went public in 1992,” and

–“What remains unanswered is who knew what at Notre Dame at the time of (Yoder’s) hiring, whether officials there simply ignored his past and what officials on the campus subsequently did as reports of his abusive behavior began to surface.”

–“Yoder’s presence at Notre Dame gave a significant boost to the school’s theology department,” bringing with him “international acclaim.”

Earlier this year, officials at Anabaptist Mennonite Biblical Seminary — where Yoder taught for 24 years – publicly apologized to Yoder’s victims for the first time. Notre Dame must do this and more. They must launch an independent investigation into both misdeeds by Yoder and cover ups by school staff.

And even sooner, we urge the school’s hierarchy to aggressively seek out current or former students or staff who may have been hurt by Yoder and offer them help.

Catholic bishops and officials in the US have pledged, time and time again, to be “open and transparent” in abuse cases. Notre Dame staff must honor these promises in the Yoder case.

We are grateful that university officials have taken Yoder’s name off a lecture series. But much more remains to be done if the truth is to be exposed and the victims are to be healed and cover ups are to be deterred.

We are even more grateful to the brave women – victims, witnesses, whistleblowers and advocates – who have helped expose the horrific sexual misdeeds by Yoder and the cover ups and poor responses by Yoder’s colleagues and supervisors. Because of their courage, churches are safer. We hope the NCR reporting will bring them sorely-needed, long-overdue and well-deserved healing.

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