UNITED STATES
Catholic Whistleblowers
By Sally Butler, O.P.
August 7, 2013
It is hard for some people to imagine a woman as a sexual abuser of children and, for some, even harder to place a woman religious in that role. But there are approximately five hundred victims of nun-abusers in this country, according to SNAP [Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests]. These victims have extreme difficulty finding support.
In 2003, several such victims approached the Leadership Council of Women Religious [LCWR] This is an association of most of the leaders of religious orders in the United States, and was designed to help them carry out their gospel mission. The SNAP members asked to address the LCWR general assembly of about four hundred sisters in order to describe their abuse and suggest preventive measures to be taken by the religious orders. The victims were refused, but were offered time with the group’s executive committee. The victims did not want their message filtered through a committee, so nothing came of it.
This scenario was repeated for eight years. The sisters seemed bent on following the bishops’ path, choosing the advice of lawyers over the message of the gospel.
This year, Catholic Whistleblowers now offers the victims of nun-abusers the chance to connect with people throughout the country who can help them find a voice. Please email me if you are interested. Victims will use this website to make contacts and “blow the whistle” when appropriate. We suggest they take the first step, using this timeline, which offers a brief history of what has happened, or failed to happen, in the past eight years.
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