CALIFORNIA
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Friday, April 8, 2016
Statement by Joelle Casteix of Orange County, SNAP volunteer western regional director, 949 322 7434, jcasteix@gmail.com
We are glad that an archbishop is forcing his corrupt predecessor to withdraw from a church service. And we are deeply grateful to concerned parishioners who are speaking out against honoring a prelate who ignored and concealed heinous sex crimes against kids.
Los Angeles Archbishop Jose Gomez is reversing himself and not letting Cardinal Roger Mahony preside over confirmations at Saint Kateri Catholic Church on April 29.
This is a step forward. But the broader question is why do Catholic officials let their disgraced and complicit colleagues keep ministering in public and ignore their horrific and deceitful wrongdoing? Why do they let men like Mahony keep rubbing salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of thousands of clergy sex abuse victims and hundreds of thousands of betrayed parishioners?
Gomez could and should have done more sooner to prevent Mahony from presenting himself in churches as an honorable person. Still, we are glad Gomez is acknowledging the pain of St. Kateri Catholics by removing Mahony.
Disciplining those who conceal child sex crimes deters others from concealing child sex crimes. But it takes courage to do this, and sadly, precious few in the Catholic hierarchy seem to be able to summon such courage.
We urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions in the LA area protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling journalists, get justice by calling attorneys, and get comfort by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
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