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	Letter to Bishop William Lori from Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests Hartford Courant May 26, 2009 http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-william-lori-snap-priest-abuse-letter,0,370749.story Bishop Lori Diocese of Bridgeport 238 Jewett Avenue Bridgeport, CT 06606 Dear Bishop Lori, We are writing you today to ask you to respect the recent ruling made by the Connecticut Supreme Court regarding the release of clergy sex abuse documents. We realize that you may have a legal right to delay or appeal this decision again, but we are urging you not to. We firmly believe that not every legal maneuver is moral, particularly as it pertains to clergy sex crimes and cover ups. Somewhere in those thousands of pages is information that shows who on your staff right now hid child sex crimes. Parents and parishioners needs and deserve to know this, because if a person concealed crimes once, he or she may well do it again. Somewhere in those thousands of pages is information that may help us determine where a proven, admitted or credibly accused predator priest is now living or working. Neighbors and co-workers need and deserve to know this, b/c if a person molested a kid once, he or she may well do it again. We suspect the records will reveal the names of present and past church employees who knew or suspected abuse and ignored or hid it. Everyone deserves to know who they are. So we ask that you put the safety of children, the healing of victims and the overall benefit of t he church itself (particularly the trusting, generous parishioners) above the short term discomfort of church officials who fear having to face tough questions - in the news media, from parishioners or in open court - about how much they knew and how little they did about these horrific crimes. We implore you: please let just the rulings of two courts and the needs of victims take precedence over any other perceived needs, especially those of the church hierarchy.. Please allow your parishioners and the public the chance to learn the truth about the crimes that were committed and concealed. Please consider, too, the morale and faith of your flock. How reassuring and inspiring it would be to them to see you act in this truly pastoral way. How comforting it would be to them to witness their bishop breaking with all that went wrong with the past. How refreshing it would be for them to be able to tell their friends and families and neighbors "Our bishop is different. He's not spending thousands in court fighting child sex abuse victims and preserving secrecy and evading responsibility." We believe that Catholics across the country, not just in your diocese, would heartily applaud such courage and compassion. We are hoping you give our simple request some serious consideration. Please allow the court ruling to go forward so that light and truth can be shed on these cases. It has been over a year now since the Holy Father visited this country. He instructed bishops to reach out to the victims in a pastoral way, not in a way that involved legal maneuverings that only further victimized the wounded. (The Pope has also said "it is important to establish the truth of what happened" regarding clergy sex crimes.) Continued secrecy, legal hairsplitting and delays, we believe, contradict the Pope's wishes. Connecticut kids will be safer and Catholics will be reassured, we feel, if you stop exploiting every legal technicality and maneuver your lawyers can dream up, and start acting more like a compassionate shepherd instead of a cold-hearted CEO, and let the truth emerge. It is only with transparency and light that we can be responsible for the safety and protection of our most vulnerable. With prayerful reflection, there is only one moral response to take. Respectfully, David Clohessy National Director, SNAP Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests 7234 Arsenal Street St. Louis MO 63143 314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915 Barbara Blaine President, SNAP Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests PO Box 6416 Chicago IL 60680 312 399 4747 Barbara Dorris Outreach Coordinator, SNAP Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests 6245 Westminster St. Louis MO 63130 314 862 7688 SNAPnetwork.org
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