By Bill McClellan
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
September 26, 2011
http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/columns/bill-mcclellan/article_70dc8551-d86e-5dfc-bdc8-9b768067b408.html
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| ** FILE ** David Clohessy, of St. Louis, national director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, holds up a photo of Eric Patterson, of Conway Springs, Kan., during a news conference in Washington on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2002. Clohessy will be named one of People magazine's "25 Most Intriguing People of the Year," in the Dec. 30 issue. (AP Photo/Joe Marquette, File) |
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| A small group holds a moment of silence for victims of clergy abuse in front of the Catholic Diocese of Vermont in Burlington, Vt., Wednesday, Aug. 8, 2007. They urged Vermont's Catholic bishop to post on the diocesan Web site the names of all admitted or accused clergy and to notify parishes where those clergy served. From left are, former priest Bill Cleary, and David Clohessy and Michael Gay, who say they were abused by priests. SNAP stands for Survivors' Network for those Abused by Priests. (AP Photo/Toby Talbot) |
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| SUNDAY, MAY 2, 2004 - David Clohessy, national director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, confers with Barbara Dorris, a local leader of the group, before a press conference the group held Sunday afternoon. The group expressed its dismay at Belleville diocese's recent contempt of court citation for failing to turn over medical records of a retired priest accused of sexual abuse. They criticized bishops for using legal tactics to avoid giving alleged victims their day in court. "They can be spiritual shepherds or sleazy CEOs," Dorris said. PHOTO BY SAM LEONE / PD |
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| 2/15/04: Outside St. Boniface Church in Edwardsville Sunday, SNAP members are stopped by Edwardsville Police Sgt. Chris Byrne. Byrne tells SNAP National Director, David Clohessy, center, that he must have a permit to demonstrate and that next time they want to leaflet a church in Edwardsville that he would need a permit from the City Clerk. Barbara Dorris, Clohessy, and Bob Swart listen to Byrne say, " You're absolutely demonstrasting. You need to apply for a permit. If you weren't demonstrating you'd be inside sitting in those pews." Clohessy didn't argue but said, " My lawyer will contact your lawyer." PHOTO BY KAREN ELSHOUT |
In the world of pop culture, you can't do much better than Oprah and People magazine, and when Oprah has you on her show not once, not twice, but three times, and People names you one of its 25 Most Intriguing people, well, you have arrived.
It's hardly what David Clohessy expected when he filed a lawsuit alleging that he had been sexually abused by a priest in his hometown of Moberly, Mo., years earlier.
That lawsuit was filed in 1991. Clohessy was 34 years old. The notion that a priest would abuse a child, and the church would knowingly cover up such abuse, was then unthinkable. And why would this child wait until he was grown to come forward? The whole thing was preposterous. Worse than that. It bordered on blasphemy.
Clohessy's lawsuit was dismissed because the statute of limitations had run out.
But Clohessy had found a calling.
I had coffee with him the other day to belatedly mark the 20th anniversary of his lawsuit. He is now the national director of SNAP, the Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests.
He is also a husband and a father. His wife is a social worker. His kids are 17 and 15. They have their mother's last name. In the early days, Clohessy's work was well outside the mainstream. It seemed best not to burden the kids with such a controversial name. The kids were also raised in their mother's church. She is a Presbyterian.
The oldest child is a freshman at college. He attends a well-known Catholic university.
"I'm proud of that," Clohessy told me. "The last thing I would want to do is limit their options. He liked the city. He liked the school."
What would Clohessy be doing if he weren't a victim's advocate?
Probably social work of some other kind. After graduating from Drury University in 1978 with degrees in philosophy and political science, he worked for the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now. He later worked in public relations and he was director of Community Services for the Riverview Gardens school district before becoming SNAP's first full-time employee in 2002.
By the way, he makes a point to stress that he did not found SNAP. The organization was founded in 1989 by Barbara Blaine of Chicago.
"When I talked to a lawyer in 1990, he told me about her. He didn't say anything about an organization. He just said there was this woman in Chicago. She's the one who started it."
I mentioned that there are some people inside the church who admit there has been a terrible problem concerning the abuse of children but argue that such abuse is hardly confined to the Catholic church.
Clohessy nodded. He said that SNAP works with abuse victims of all kinds. Some come from other religious denominations. Some come from organizations like the Boy Scouts. Some are abused by family members.
"The key is it's almost always an authority figure. It might be a priest. It might be an uncle. But it's somebody who seems powerful, and so the victim does not think he will be believed," Clohessy said.
Another criticism I hear about SNAP has to do with false accusations. Once somebody is accused, his reputation is ruined. I mentioned a priest I know who told me he's afraid to go to soccer games, afraid that people might wonder why he has such an interest in children.
Clohessy said he felt bad for that priest and others like him, but he said that he believes false accusations are rare. Even church officials say so, he said.
I asked if he had ever dealt with a person who he believed was making false accusations. He said he knew for sure of two, one of whom was prosecuted in California. He said he had talked with several people on the phone whose stories didn't seem to hold together well. But he said that for the most part, the problem lies in the other direction with victims who are afraid to come forward.
Why was there such a problem with the Catholic church? Did he think it had to do with celibacy? He said he thought the whole thing was complicated. He mentioned the structure of the church. The pope is like an absolute monarch, he said, but it's impossible for him to monitor all the bishops. I asked if he had any friends who are priests with whom he could discuss these theories. Not really, he said. Most of the priests he has dealt with were whistle-blowers.
By the way, one of his brothers is a priest. They are estranged.
Has Clohessy ever thought of writing a book? In today's culture, people try to cash in on their celebrity.
He laughed and shook his head. "I am one of those rare and lucky people. There is nothing I would rather be doing than this," he said.
Contact: bmcclellan@post-dispatch.com
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