WASHINGTON (DC)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
SNAP: “100,000 US clergy abuse victims, but federal officials do nothing”
Group applauds governmental investigations and reports in other countries
Two United Nations panels have done probes and attacked church hierarchy
Organization says “Welcoming Francis is fine but, for kids’ sake, challenge him too”
What:
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will blast US federal officials for “doing nothing” about the on-going child molestation and cover up scandal in the church. They will call on
–Congress to hold hearings into the crisis, and–the Justice Department to make crime-fighting funds to states contingent on reforming archaic child safety laws.
They will also
–urge Pope Francis to stop bishops from fighting secular child safety reforms, and
–urge “everyone who saw, suspected or suffered” child sex crimes and cover ups in churches to “protect kids, expose predators, deter cover ups and push for eliminating predator-friendly statutes of limitations.”
When:
Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 2:30 pm.
Where:
Outside the U.S. Department of Justice, 950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington DC
Who:
Four-five members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director
Why:
Some consider the U.S. to be the epicenter of the clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis since the first pedophile priest made national headlines here more than 30 years ago (Father Gilbert Gauthe of Lafayette, Louisiana). Catholic bishops admit that 6,427 US priests are accused molesters and Catholic experts estimate that these child molesting clerics have assaulted more than 100,000 kids.
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