UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
By David Clohessy
No warnings, no outreach, no way, no how
At best, I’ll seem ungrateful. But I’m not.
At worst, I’ll seem whiny. You decide.
The gap between how the Catholic hierarchy is and ought to be is perhaps most clearly seen in this one simple fact: when it comes to fighting abuse survivors, church officials “pull out all the stops,” but when it comes to seeking out and helping abuse survivors, church officials pretend to be powerless.
When a bishop learns that survivors are pushing for legislative reform to help expose predators, he goes “whole hog,” hiring lobbyists and public relations experts and aggressively mobilizing church staff and members with new conferences, public statements, op-eds, bulletin notices, website pleas, pulpit announcements and direct mail to parishioners’ homes, begging them to push lawmakers to protect the bishop’s interests and block survivors seeking justice.
But when a bishop hears about an abuse case, virtually all of these resources and mechanisms are ignored. Have you ever heard or seen a bishop say “We suspect that Fr. Mike may have molested more than just one girl, so we’re doing everything humanly possible to find and help others he’s hurt.”
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