CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 2
Statement by Barbara Blaine of Chicago, president of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 312-399-4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com )
A “permanently” suspended predator priest will be restored as “a priest in good standing” because Vatican bureaucrats have overruled Chicago church figures and claim that they can’t “find evidence strong enough to merit a judgment that (he) had sexually abused a minor.”
The cleric is Fr. Robert A. Stepek. Cardinal George should put him in a remote, secure treatment center immediately, so that kids will be safer. And every single Catholic church employee and church member – current and former – who saw, suspected or suffered crimes or misdeeds by Fr. Stepek should step forward.
At the same time, however, Vatican officials “also found that Father Stepek had engaged in behaviors inappropriate for a priest.”
Cardinal George promises he’ll keep Fr. Stepek out of ministry. We hope George will honor this pledge. We’re skeptical, however, because we see pledges like this broken by bishops often. And we’re worried because a child molester without a job is still a child molester.
Kids are safer when predators like Fr. Stepek are behind bars. Since Catholic officials recruited, educated, ordained, hired, transferred and protected Fr. Stepek – and continue to pay him now – Catholic officials have a duty to help police and prosecutors go after him.
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