BishopAccountability.org
	SNAP: Cardinal George Should 'Step Down' My Fox Chicago November 9, 2008 http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=7825578&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=TSTY&pageId=3.2.1 Chicago, IL. — The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) sent a letter to Cardinal Francis George Sunday asking for his resignation as president of America's bishops for allegedly ignoring years of sexual abuse within the church and allowing a convicted sex offender to work for Chicago's archdiocese. Chicago's Cardinal Francis George is slated to appear at the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Monday in Baltimore, according to the conference website. The cardinal is president of the bishop's conference, which will bring more than 200 bishops from across the country to Baltimore. SNAP wants him to resign from his post. According to a release from SNAP issued Sunday, George is "deceptively and recklessly letting a convicted predator priest pal work for and in the archdiocese, violating his specific, public promise to the contrary and the church's national sex abuse policy," SNAP founder and Chicagoan Barbara Blaine said in a statement. Last month, the Sun-Times reported that Rev. Kenneth J. Martin, a Roman Catholic priest who pleaded guilty to molesting a teenage boy in 2001, was working for the Archdiocese of Chicago, despite promises from the cardinal that Martin would not be coming back to Chicago. Martin was barred by the Vatican from presenting himself as a priest, but currently works as an "off-site liturgy consultant" who "edits and reviews liturgical texts and consults with LTP's director about liturgical publications," and also does translation work, the archdiocese told the Sun-Times in October. SNAP asked the cardinal to resign as the head of the Chicago archdiocese in 2006, for allegedly "mishandling" sex abuse allegations against convicted former priest Daniel McCormack. In their letter Sunday, the group asks the cardinal to resign as head of the bishop's conference, claiming his "irresponsible" and "inexcusable" actions in regards to at least six priests accused or charged with sex abuse, will encourage other bishops to "follow suit." A spokesperson for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops could not immediately be reached for comment.
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