UNITED STATES
PHIL SAVIANO – SURVIVOR & WHISTLEBLOWER
“Truth Prevails” – Jan Hus
Like most social movements, the clergy abuse survivors’ movement began with years of little-noticed efforts by a few pioneers. In Boston, MA, the trailblazer was Phil Saviano. After going public about his abuse in a 1992 Boston Globe story, he spent the next decade immersed in volunteer work for the cause. In spring of 1997, he established the first New England chapter of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. While supporting other victims, he used the news media to get the word out about the hidden problem of Catholic clergy abuse. Saviano’s efforts culminated in his collaboration with the Boston Globe Spotlight Investigation team. Its 2002 exposé led to the resignation of Boston’s Cardinal Law, a man once said to be the most influential cardinal in America. The investigative series ignited a worldwide crisis for the Roman Catholic Church.
Open Road Films acclaimed movie “Spotlight,” which tells the behind-the-scenes story of the newspaper’s investigation, includes scenes with Saviano’s character, played by New York actor Neal Huff.
Phil often comes across as being laid-back and self-effacing. Look deeper, though, and you will find that he has a remarkable stamina and an ability to strive and thrive, both physically and emotionally, despite experiences that could derail others.
At the time that Phil first went public with the story of his childhood abuse, he was grappling with a serious illness that came close to bringing him down. Nevertheless, one morning, a week before Christmas 1992, he was leafing through the pages of the Boston Globe. Phil discovered with a shock, that Fr. David Holley, the same priest who molested him in Massachusetts in the 1960s, was accused of assaulting children in Texas in the 1970s and in New Mexico in the 1980s. He reached out to those men out west and lent support to their allegations by going public about his own abuse. In that emotional blizzard of a weekend in December 1992, Phil was reborn as an activist.
Note: This is an Abuse Tracker excerpt. Click the title to view the full text of the original article. If the original article is no longer available, see our News Archive.