BishopAccountability.org
	Sex Abuse Victims Respond to New Detroit Archbishop SNAP January 5, 2009 http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/2009_statements/010509_sex_abuse_victims_respond_to_new_detroit_archbishop.htm Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688) Vigneron fits the mold of recent papal appointees who tend to be extraordinarily conservative yet very media savvy. In public sometimes he says refreshing things but in private, he largely act in the same secretive, hurtful ways, especially regarding clergy sex crimes and cover ups. - Barely a year ago (November 2007), he quietly promoted a priest “who masturbated in front of an Oakland police officer at a park frequented by children” (according to news sources). - In 2004, he refused to run a paid ad in his diocesan paper about a university-sponsored Voice of the Faithful seminar. - He repeatedly did nothing while The Salesians of St. John Bosco played legal hardball and attacked victims in his diocese. (According to a victim’s attorney in the Oakland area, the Salesians have been “the most aggressive church group fighting lawsuits against its priests.”) - According to an Oakland newspaper “What diocese officials have not done, however, is release complete information about accused priests and the long history of abuse.” - He’s garnered attention for a ‘memorial garden’ for victims while continuing to put kids at risk. (We believe it’s irresponsible for a bishop to memorialize the past when he hasn’t protected kids in the present and future.) The bottom line is that Vigneron is long on symbolism and short on substance, prevention, justice and truth-telling. http://www.contracostatimes.com/search/ci_8748784 (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the nation’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 17 years and have more than 8,000 members across the country. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org) Contact David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, 314-645-5915 home), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Peter Isely (414-429-7259)
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.