ROME
GlobalPost
Jason Berry
ROME — Yesterday as cardinals huddled in secret meetings before the conclave, a leader of the women’s priest movement wearing her liturgical robes was arrested for unfurling a banner at St. Peter’s Square.
Today leaders of the abuse survivors’ movement called on bishops to fund penal centers for predator priests who avoided prosecution.
Such are the moments in a slow news town when one of the biggest stories in the world plays out behind closed doors.
SNAP — Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests — held their event in a crowded hotel conference room, with St. Louis residents David Clohessy, the national director, and Barbara Dorris, in charge of victims’ outreach, releasing a two-page list of 20 steps the new pope should take to ensure children’s safety.
“Church officials should turn to secular professionals in cases not brought to criminal proceedings,” said Clohessy, who called for the church to fund remote, securely maintained residences for pedophiles. In endorsing what he admitted was tantamount to church penal centers, Clohessy said that many bishops have such facilities today, though they are not publicized and offenders “are not getting much treatment.”
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