UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Sunday, Jan. 12
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com )
We are grateful that Pope Francis named none of the eligible U.S. archbishops (Chaput of Philadelphia, Vigneron of Detroit, and Lori of Baltimore) as a new cardinal.
But we are disappointed that Archbishop Gerhard Ludwig Müller of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has been elevated.
Each of these four men have dreadful records on children’s safety.
At the same time, we are disappointed that Pope Francis did not promote Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin. While far from perfect, he’s better than more prelates on abuse. Promoting him would have been encouraging to many survivors.
But the pope’s cardinal choices are less important in many ways than his decision to rebuff Polish law enforcement officials who want a credibly accused child molesting archbishop returned from the Vatican to face criminal charges. Pope Francis’ decision to essentially harbor a fugitive who allegedly molested at least five boys is terribly disturbing and hurtful to tens of thousands of suffering child sex abuse victims and millions of already betrayed Catholics.
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