IRELAND
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Thursday, October 24, 2013
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
Irish Catholic religious orders are refusing to live up to promises they made years ago to help victims of abuse. Shame on them.
These selfish and cold-hearted church officials are victimizing the already-wounded for the third time. First, these innocent boys and girls were violated as kids. Second, they were violated again when a callous Catholic hierarchy ignored their pleas for help, openness and healing. Now, they are violating these still-suffering adults by breaking their promises of help.
Catholic officials are blaming the depressed property market for the shortfall.” That’s baloney. The Catholic church is a huge, wealthy monarchy. The hierarchy almost always seems to find money for its pet projects. When a pope visits a nation, all of that country’s Catholic entities “chip in”, pool their funds to make sure they can capitalize on the energy and attention a papal visit brings.
When it’s advantageous for them, they claim the church is a world-wide institution in which Catholic entities help one another financially. When it’s advantageous to claim the reverse – that each Catholic entity is entirely separate – they claim the reverse. It’s utterly deceitful.
We believe “Where there’s a will, there’s a way.” In Boston, the now-disgraced Cardinal Bernard Law had the decency to at least borrow money (some $25 million) from the Knights of Columbus to help hundreds of victims. These religious orders can and should do the same if necessary.
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