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	Child Sex Victims Blast Nuns SNAP May 6, 2011 http://www.snapnetwork.org/snap_statements/2011_statements/050611_child_sex_victims_blast_nuns.htm Statement by Barbara Dorris, SNAP Outreach Director SNAPdorris@gmail.com Catholic officials keep claiming they’ve “reformed” and now deal with child sex crimes and cover ups “better.” Yet none of the four nuns’ organizations involved in the on-going Magdalene scandal will even meet with the victims. What could be more callous? We admire the brave victims of these horrific institutions and hope they will continue to seek justice and speak out. (SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 23 years and have more than 10,000 members. 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, SNAPclohessy@aol.com), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com),Peter Isely (414-429-7259, peterisely@yahoo.com),Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com) ************** http://www.irishcentral.com/news/Church-accused-of-ignoring-Magdalene-Laundry-survivors-121379869.html Church accused of ignoring Magdalene Laundry survivors By CATHAL DERVAN, IrishCentral.com Staff Writer Published Friday, May 6, 2011, 8:19 AM The Catholic Church has been accused of taking a ‘deny ‘till they die’ attitude to the survivors of the Magdalene Laundries. A support group for those abused by nuns in the laundries has also claimed that the Church is giving them the ‘classic run-around’ and ignoring their letters. The Justice For Magdalenes group has since written to Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin in response to comments he made on radio this week. Archbishop Martin told RTE that he is ‘sympathetic’ to the Magdalene women’s case. “The church has addressed such issues from the past and there is no reason why we can’t address this one,” said the Archbishop. According to the Irish Times, Boston College Professor Jim Smith has now written to the Archbishop saying he was heartened by the interview but was upset by the lack of response from those involved. Prof Smith told the Times that he had written to the four congregations involved in running the laundries - the Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of Charity, Good Shepherd Sisters, and Sisters of Our Lady of Charity – when he had previously written to the Archbishop. “Finally, last June, I heard directly from the Good Shepherd Sisters and the Sisters of Our Lady of Charity and they informed me that they didn’t feel there was ‘anything to talk about’ and that they would not meet with JFM,” revealed Prof Smith. He has also been informed, by letter, that the Conference of Religious of Ireland are not prepared to meet with the JFM group, referring them instead to the four religious congregations. “JFM very much feels that the Catholic Church in Ireland, and especially the four religious congregations, are engaged in giving JFM, with all due respect, a classic run-around - the church is pursuing a ‘deny ‘til they die’ policy,” added the Professor. “JFM is doing precisely what Archbishop Martin asked other survivors of institutional abuse to do, we are speaking out, seeking the truth.” A spokeswoman for Archbishop Martin told the Irish Times that Prof Smith had been in touch and would get a response ‘in due course’.
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