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	Local Group Aims to Inform Catholics about Abuse by Priests By Patricia Montemurri Detroit Free Press August 29 2010 http://www.freep.com/article/20100829/NEWS05/100829019/Local-group-aims-to-inform-Catholics-about-abuse-by-priests Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests leafleted massgoers at Detroit's Blessed Sacrament Cathedral Sunday, calling for local Catholic leaders to be more forthcoming about priests -- dead or alive -- who've been credibly accused of molesting minors. "We were trying to inform the parishioners that abuse does occur and we want to give parents warning signs," said Matt Jatczak, 31, a legal assistant from Livonia, who has started a SNAP group for the Detroit area, www.snapdetroit.org. Five group members stood outside Blessed Sacrament, the archdiocese's mother church, to catch parishioners after the 11 a.m. mass. They want Archbishop Allen Vigneron to urge any possible victims to come forward by visiting churches where abusive priests have worked; and to make information about the accused priests — such as with photos and listings of past parishes — more easily available. Ned McGrath, an archdiocese spokesman, said the names of priests, alive and deceased, with links to the diocese who've been credibly accused of abuse are listed at www.aodonline.org, search "priests and policy status report." He said the archdiocese plans to revamp its online format in the near future to make the list more accessible. McGrath also said Vigneron has met with abuse victims, and that the archdiocese publicizes these cases in its Michigan Catholic newspaper and in parish bulletins. Zak Dhlamini, 28, a banker from Detroit, took one of the leaflets Sunday and said church officials need to do all they can to alert the public about abusive priests. "They need to because people look highly at the priests," said Dhlamini. "To me, it should be more about why did priests" commit such abuse. James Evans, 85, a Detroit retiree, said problems with abuse aren't just an issue for the Catholic church. "Do it to all the churches," said Evans, about calls by victims' advocates for greater transparency. The archdiocese says that since 1950, 66 priests, or about 2% of working priests, who served in the Detroit area were accused of abuse, and many of them have died. Under church reforms, accused priests are banned from dressing, working or identifying themselves as a priest — or the Vatican may laicize them — returning them to layperson status. Sunday's protest followed revelations in the Lansing Catholic Diocese last week about two priests, both dead. Michael Diebold, a spokesman for the Lansing Catholic Diocese, said Sunday no other people had come forward this week with additional claims against the Rev. John Martin, who died in 1968 and is believed to have molested six altar boys in the 1950s and 1960s; or the Rev. John Slowey. The Lansing diocese paid $225,000 this month to a man who said he was molested by Slowey, who died in 1983, in the 1950s. Contact PATRICIA MONTEMURRI: 313-223-4538 or pmontemurri@freepress.com
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