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	Group Looking for Other Victims of Abuse by Former Quincy Priest By Bob Gough Quincy News November 5, 2009 http://www.quincynews.org/local-news/group-looking-for-other-victims -of-abuse-by-former-quincy-priest.html A director of an organization advocating for victims of sexual abuse by Catholic priests is looking for other people who may have been victims of abuse in Quincy. Judy Block Jones is with SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), a 9,000 member organization that urges Catholics to come forward if they have been abused. Jones was in Quincy just weeks after a New York Times story revealved that a priest formerly stationed in Quincy fathered a child with a woman who was then living in Quincy during a retreat at the Our Lady of Angels Seminary, now known as Quincy University's North Campus. The priest, Fr. Henry Willenborg, was suspended from his Parish in Ashland, Wisconsin shortly after the Times story ran as the story contained an allegation of another relationship Willenborg had. The woman Willenborg has admitted having a relationship with, Pat Bond, and their now 22-year-old son, Nathan Halbach, live in O'Fallon, MO and both have been diagnosed with cancer. Jones says if there are others who feel they were victimized by Willenborg, they should come forward. "If somebody's been harmed by a priest, it is very hard It's very hard for them to speak of it and they carry it for years and years and they don't have to," Jones told WTAD News. "The best way to stop abuse is to speak up and get together with other survivors and realize they are not alone. They are not weird and it is not their fault. To speak of it is very healing." SNAP delivered a letter to Quincy University officials on Wednesday, saying: "We are here today begging anyone who has been hurt by Fr. Henry Willenborg to come forward and get the help they need and deserve. We hope you will use your considerable resources to do likewise. We also hope you will prod your staff and high ranking officials with the Springfield diocese and the Franciscans to do the same." Click here to read the entire letter. A news release from SNAP states: SNAP believes church officials and church members - the Springfield Diocese, the university, the Franciscans and in the Quincy area- have a moral duty to aggressively seek out and offer help to anyone else who may have seen, suspected or suffered crimes or misdeeds by Willenborg. While Willenborg was never employed by what was then known as Quincy College, he was on the school's Board of Trustees (from 1984 to 1987). He worked as a Franciscan priest for the Sacred Heart Province on the staff of Our Lady of Angels Seminary for more than 10 years from the mid-1970's to the late 1980's. "While Father Willenborg's conduct is regrettable and reprehensible, he was not a member of Quincy University nor was the seminary owned by the school," said QU Director of Communications Roman Salamon. "Any involvement on our part would be unjustified." Kathie Sass of the Diocese of Springfield said the Church re-examined the issue after the Times story broke and said Willenborg wasn't stationed at any Parish in the Springfield Diocese. "We recommend (victims) not go to the Diocese," Jones said. "This has not worked for victims. Pat Bond broke gag order to tell her story. The Catholic Church does not want a scandal. They will do what they can to put a lid on it." Jones, who has a brother who was the victim of abuse by a priest, said SNAP would start a chapter in Quincy if needed. "We have support groups in St. Louis and we could start a support group in Quincy," she said.
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