RESPONSE TO POPE FRANCIS’ MEETING WITH CLERGYS SEXUAL ABUSE VICTIM/SURVIVORS

Road to Recovery
July 8, 2014

http://www.road-to-recovery.org/

PRESS RELEASE: FOR IMMEDIATE USE

Road to Recovery, Inc., which is the only organization in the United States that provides direct financial, social, advocacy, and other services to victim/survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic Church personnel and their enablers, responds to the Pope’s meeting today with survivors of clergy sexual abuse in the following way:

1) The meeting is a good first step for Pope Francis, but he must stop asking for forgiveness because forgiveness will only take place when Francis acts decisively. Some of the ways he can act are elicited below:

a) He must admit his missteps regarding clergy sexual abuse when he was Archbishop of Buenos Aires in Argentina. In addition, he must acknowledge that one or more whistle blowers of clergy sexual abuse in Argentina were mistreated as a result of reports of sexual abuse of children by clergy and other Church personnel;

b) He must dismiss several bishops from their positions, and he should begin with Archbishop John J. Myers of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey, and Bishop Robert Finn of the Diocese of Kansas City – St. Joseph, Missouri;

c) He must rescind the appointment of Bishop Edgar M. da Cunha of the Archdiocese of Newark, New Jersey as the Bishop of Fall River, MA because of his knowledge of clergy sexual abuse among the Vocationist Fathers and Brothers who are members of his religious order and who did not do anything about it;

d) He must restore the integrity of whistle blowers and advocates by acknowledging their mistreatment, and he must restore, where appropriate, whistle blowers to paid church positions, and/or offer just compensation to those who lost their jobs unjustly;

e) He must eliminate all diocesan-sponsored and appointed commissions, boards, and offices regarding sexual abuse of children and request local law enforcement to establish independent commissions, boards, and offices to investigate sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church;

f) He must meet with more victim/survivors and their advocates to determine how best to compensate victim/survivors for life relative to ongoing counseling and treatment for PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) and its symptoms and residual effects on families and communities. Victim/survivors must be guaranteed that whatever they need to recover will be provided by the Church, free of charge.

Contact: Robert M. Hoatson, Ph.D., President, Road to Recovery, Inc. – 862-368-2800