Attacking SNAP a Bad Move

Saunders & Walker
March 23, 2012

http://www.saundersblog.com/

The US Catholic published this morning a very good piece authored by Bryan Cones concerning the perception that the US bishops have decided to attack SNAP (Survivors of Those Abused by Priests). While the author correctly points out that this perception has been fueled by the combative head of the Catholic League, William Donohue's recent comments on SNAP and his assertion that the US bishops have made a decision as a body to start fighting back against the non-profit group, media outlets such as the NY Times and the National Catholic Reporter have picked up on Donohue's comments and written pieces on it.

Donohue's comments come in the wake of two Missouri Catholic dioceses sending subpoenas for deposition testimony to David Clohessy, a SNAP founder and spokesperson. From reading the deposition transcripts of Clohessy's testimony, it was evident that the lawyers were more interested in the internal finances and operation of SNAP rather than the sex abuse lawsuits that were purported to be the subject of the deposition.

Of course, the actions of these two dioceses does not make for a conspiracy of US bishops against SNAP. But, in case the bishops are entertaining such a notion, here's why they shouldn't do it: 1)SNAP's mission is to serve and assist those who've been abused by priests, ministers, counselors and other authority figures, 2)they want to hold the Catholic Church and other institutions accountable for the actions and behavior of their ministers and priests, 3)as the article correctly points out, such a strategy would make the Catholic Church look like Goliath taking on David ie. it would be seen as a bullying tactic and an attempt to silence an organization that does much good, and finally, 4)SNAP wouldn't exist or need to exist any longer if the Catholic bishops had done their job by taking care of those abused and reporting abuse to law enforcement.