‘SNAP’ organization calls for Catholic church transparency

OWENSBORO (KY)
WFIE-TV, Ch. 14 [Evansville IN]

April 27, 2021

By Evan Gorman

SNAP stands for Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

[VIDEO]

We are continuing to follow developments out of the Catholic Diocese of Owensboro.

The Vatican reinstated Father Ed Bradley to his priestly faculties.

Bradley had been permanently suspended following two accusations of sexual misconduct.

Bradley appealed his suspension to the Vatican.

Now Rome has restored Bradley’s faculties as a priest with some restrictions.

We are now hearing from SNAP the ‘Support Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.’

The organization works to support survivors and protect children. It also aims at exposing the truth. SNAP is a calling for more transparency in the Catholic church.

Father Ed Bradley was in leadership roles at Owensboro Catholic High School in the 1980′s when the incidents were alleged to have taken place.

He was suspended from public ministry in 2019 until the priest and his lawyers filed an appeal.

The Vatican, two years later, reversed that decision.

“I think they need to be honest and explain why they still wanted to restrict him,” Cal Pfeiffer, with SNAP, explained.

For five years, Bradley will not be allowed to go into a primary or secondary school.

“What about hospitals,” Pfeiffer questioned. “What about nursing homes? Children are in those locations.”

According to the Diocese of Owensboro, an allegation of the sexual abuse of a minor by a priest is substantiated when there is probable cause for believing the claim is true.

“Owensboro Diocese and Vatican owes a lot of people answers to questions,” Pfeiffer added. “Have the courage to answer questions. To take questions. My experience is they just dodge them. They don’t want to. They’re not transparent. They may talk about being transparent and open, but they sure don’t demonstrate it. This would be a good time for them to start.”

14 News reached back out to Father Bradley on Tuesday, just one day after he spoke exclusively to our news organization on Monday.

We also requested an interview with Owensboro Bishop William Medley again.

Our team is working to find out on what basis the Vatican made its decision.

This information remains unclear.

Copyright 2021 WFIE. All rights reserved.

https://www.14news.com/2021/04/27/snap-organization-calls-catholic-church-transparency/