It is not a group anyone wants to join. The Survivor’s Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is made up of people who have experienced clergy sexual abuse during their childhoods. The group was first introduced to me as a support for my husband, who is a survivor of sexual abuse by a priest that occurred when he was 5-years-old. My husband participates in a peer group, and we have attended two national SNAP conferences.
People would stand up and say what happened to them — how old they were, how long the abuse continued, whether they were believed if they told others. They were tearful, they were angry, but they were not silent. I was just astonished. I also am a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, though the crimes against me were not committed by a clergy member, and it never occurred to me that I could be…
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