BishopAccountability.org
	SNAP Leader Comments on Irish Bishops Meeting with Pope Voice from the Desert February 15, 2010 http://reform-network.net/?p=2612 Abuse victims and Catholics are right to expect little or nothing from this carefully-orchestrated public relations move. Does anyone honestly think that the very same men who ignored and concealed child sex crimes for decades can or will do a sudden and complete 180 degree turn-around and suddenly be part of the solution, instead of part of the problem? We’re both saddened and grateful for the comments made yesterday by Irish bishop Joseph Duffy, who told a news conference that the meetings were intended to “consider an approach that will help to give assurance to families and restore confidence and serenity with the clergy and the faithful.” We’re grateful because that comment is revealing – the meetings aren’t designed to heal the wounded or protect the vulnerable, but instead to mollify the flock. We’re saddened because such priorities are backwards: church authorities should focus first on making kids safe and disciplining wrongdoers. If that happens, confidence would be restored. It’s a terribly distressing sign that top Vatican officials, like Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, keep deliberately mischaracterizing the on-going crisis. Today, Bertone blamed it on “some churchmen involved in particularly abhorrent acts,” rather than on a centuries-old, deeply-rooted culture of self-serving secrecy perpetuated by a rigid, ancient, all-male monarchy. (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 22 years and have more than 9,000 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), Peter Isely (414-429-7259), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688, 314-503-0003)
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