NEW YORK
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Victims to Pope: “Stop bishops’ lobbying”
SNAP: “Prelates fight secular child safety bills
Battles are now being waged in each place Francis visits
“Church uses flock’s donations to protect predators,” group says
It begs church-goers: “Donate elsewhere until real change happens”
SNAP: “As Francis ‘talks nice’ with lawmakers, bishops ‘quietly fight dirty’”
What:
Holding signs and childhood photos, while Francis meets with politicians in DC, clergy sex abuse victims will hand fliers to church-goers. They will also
–urge Francis to make bishops stop blocking secular child safety law reforms,
–urge lawmakers (federal and state) to ignore bishops’ “self-serving” lobbying efforts, and
–urge Catholics to donate elsewhere until their church officials push for, not against, better laws that protect kids, expose predators and punish enablers.
Such legislative struggles are pending in each place Francis will visit: New York, Pennsylvania and DC.
The victims will also urge all victims, witnesses and whistleblowers – in every institution that serves kids – to
–report everything they know, see or suspect to law enforcement,
–seek help from independent sources (not church, school, camp or coaching staff), and
–join the growing movement to end or extend archaic, predator-friendly statutes of limitations.
When:
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at noon – 1:00 p.m.
Where:
Outside St. Patrick’s Cathedral (5th Avenue entrance) in Manhattan
Who:
Seven-eight members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including 1) an Illinois woman and attorney who is the organization’s long time president and 2) a California woman who is a best-selling author on abuse prevention.
Why:
While clergy sex abuse and cover up lawsuits attract considerable media attention, most victims of pedophile priests can’t seek justice in court because bishops exploit archaic, predator-friendly deadlines called “statutes of limitations.” Worse, SNAP says, US bishops are spending “hundreds of thousands of dollars” on “high-priced lobbyists” to block moves to reform these rigid statutes that “give wrongdoers incentives to intimidate victims, threaten witnesses, discredit whistleblowers, destroy evidence and ‘run out the clock’ on child sex crimes and cover ups.”
SNAP wants Pope Francis to forbid such “reckless, callous expenditures” that “save bishops’ reputations but make abuse and cover up likely to continue.” The group also wants state lawmakers to pass civil “window” laws that “make it easier for struggling victims to protect others, expose predators, deter cover ups and seek justice.” And they want federal legislation and policies that reward states that work harder on abuse prevention.
(Four states have enacted civil “window” laws. As a result hundreds of adults who committed and concealed child sex crimes have been exposed, fired, demoted or otherwise punished and dozens of criminal prosecutions have taken place that likely would not have, SNAP maintains. The group says “windows” are “the single quickest, safest and cheapest way to expose predators, safeguard kids and end cover ups of child sexual assaults.”)
Because bishops exploit tight statues of limitations, very few victims are able to “out” their perpetrators in court. In the Milwaukee archdiocese, for example, over the last four years, 575 victims have come forward reporting abuse by clerics there. But the identities and whereabouts of roughly 100 of these clerics remain hidden because victims cannot file lawsuits against them. The same is true of dozens of clerics who ignored or hid these crimes.
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