Accused Archbishop Cleared

SNAP
March 11, 2014

http://www.snapnetwork.org/mn_accused_archbishop_cleared

Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (952-334-5180, frankameuers@gmail.com)

The allegation against Archbishop John Neinstedt sounds pretty implausible from the start. Still, we believe law enforcement should take virtually every child sex abuse report seriously, especially when the accused is a cleric, and we're grateful that police apparently did investigate this thoroughly.

Having Neinstedt back on the job won't make any real difference, because when Bishop Piche was in charge, church officials continued to act secretively, just like Neinstedt and his colleagues have done for years.

Now that this is behind him, he has no reason to evade police questioning about archdiocesan cover ups. And he should insist that his long-time second-in-command, Fr. Kevin McDonough, also sit for questioning by police.

(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 25 years and have more than 15,000 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)