NEW YORK
Syracuse.com
By John O’Brien | jobrien@syracuse.com
on November 05, 2015
SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Two men who say they’re survivors of child-molesting priests have sent more than 85,000 signatures to the Vatican demanding the resignation of Syracuse’s bishop.
The survivors, Kevin Braney and Charles Bailey, cite Bishop Robert Cunningham’s characterization of victims in 2011 and his refusal to publicize the names of 11 priests against whom the diocese has found credible allegations of abuse.
Braney said he was hoping for 10,000 people to sign the petition they started two months ago on Change.org. As of this week, 85,193 people from across the country had signed, he said.
Cunningham, in a 2011 court deposition, testified that “the boy is culpable” in cases of child-molesting priests, and referred to child victims as “accomplices.” After a story was published in September on Syracuse.com about the deposition, Cunningham said his words gave the wrong impression, and that the victims were never at fault.
“We were hoping for 20,000 to 25,000 at the max,” Bailey said of the petition. “That’s an impressive number — 85,000 people agreeing that the bishop should go.”
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