ILLINOIS
WLS
CHICAGO (WLS) — Barbara Blaine, who did pioneering work on behalf of individuals abused by priests and founded the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), died on Sunday, the organization said in a statement.
Blaine, 61, who resigned as SNAP president in February, was surrounded by family and friends when she died, the statement said.
Blaine stepped down after three decades of campaigning to force the Catholic Church to recognize the extent of the scandal and compensate thousands of people affected.
Blaine did not say why she resigned from SNAP.
She founded SNAP in 1988, years after she was abused as an 8th grader by a Toledo, Ohio priest who taught at the Catholic school she attended, according to the organization’s website. Her pleas for help to Toledo’s bishop were ignored. The first SNAP meeting of victims was held at a Holiday Inn in Chicago.
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