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  Catholic League, SNAP Clash; a Dim View of U.S. Catholicism

By Matt C. Abbott
Renew America
April 18, 2008

http://www.renewamerica.us/columns/abbott/080418

I can't imagine anyone accusing Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, of not speaking his mind.

Case in point: In a news release dated April 16, 2008, Mr. Donohue unleashed on the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests:

    'Any minor who has been sexually molested deserves our compassion. But what SNAP is doing, aided and abetted by angry Catholics and ex-Catholics, deserves not our understanding, but contempt. This is a group which has a deep ideological and financial investment in painting the Catholic Church as a villain.

    'SNAP's ideological bias stems from the fact that it positively refuses to recognize the incredible progress that has been made exactly five priests out of more than 40,000 had accusations made against them for abusing a minor in 2007 yet for SNAP it's never enough. Financially, it derives much of its funding from the steeple-chasing lawyers who have fleeced the 'deep pocket' Catholic Church. It's time we dismissed these professional victims' advocates for what they are activists whose goal is to discredit the Church.

    'Once the pope leaves, SNAP may as well close up shop. The reforms that have already been made have made the group increasingly irrelevant, and it's just a matter of time before it becomes obsolete altogether. So they should enjoy their little ceremony today this is SNAP's last hurrah.'

I asked David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, for a response to Mr. Donohue's statement.

Mr. Clohessy's response:

"Whether [Mr. Donohue] realizes it or not, he's perpetuating the unhealthy, age-old, 'blame the victim' mentality that ultimately hurts both the institutional church and its most vulnerable members. Fear of bring attacked like this is one of the many reasons sex crime victims stay trapped in shame, confusion and self-blame, instead of speaking up, exposing predators and protecting kids."

  
 
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