Fr. Jim Connell of Sheboygan, Other Clergy “whistleblowers” Launch New National Campaign Today

By Peter Isely
SNAP Wisconsin
May 21, 2013

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Fr. Jim Connell of Sheboygan, other clergy “whistleblowers” launch new national campaign today

Group formed to support clergy, others in coming forward on abuse and cover up

Statement by Peter Isely, SNAP Midwest Director (Milwaukee)

CONTACT: 414.429.7259

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The group sent a letter today to Pope Francis asking him to take necessary steps to restore the church’s credibility, revoke all oaths of secrecy, open the files on abuse cases, remove from office any bishops who obstructed justice and create an international forum for dialogue between survivors and church leaders.

Connell is also a founding member of a pioneering group of clergy and survivors in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee who over the last two years have been working publically and privately together to end clerical sexual abuse in the local church, bring offenders to justice, and insist on full institutional accountability and transparency.

Connell and the other clergy in today’s Times story are demonstrating what real leadership looks like by Catholic clergy. By coming forward they have followed the path, difficult, necessary, and ultimately liberating, of the many clerical survivors around the country who preceded them. They have earned the trust and respect of survivors, the public and the church.

The clergy whistle blowers is a hard won beginning of, one can only hope, of how the sexual abuse crisis in the church will be resolved. It certainly cannot be done without clergy like Connell and others. And if clergy and other Catholic leaders finally come forward on this crisis, speak out, demand justice, then the longed for day may come when survivors will no longer need to.

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. Visit us at SNAPwisconsin.com and SNAPnetwork.org.