WASHINGTON (DC)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Pope must stop predators moving overseas
SNAP: “Take passports from accused clerics”
More alleged molesters flee abroad, group says
But church officials often claim to be powerless
One “outed” last month as having worked in MD, VA & NJ
He claims two fellow diocesan staffers told him “get on a plane”
What:
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, and citing three journalistic investigations, clergy sex abuse victims will call on
–US bishops to stop predator priests from evading justice by fleeing abroad and keep them from working in parishes, and
–Pope Francis to harshly punish bishops (including one in Newark and several in South America) who enable this “reckless practice” to continue.
They want all Catholic officials – in Rome and the US for starters- to insist that clerics accused or suspected of child sex crimes give their passports to their bishop, so they can’t escape abroad.
And they will discuss the recent case of an admitted predator priest who says two church colleagues told him to fly to South America when a victim reported his abuse. They will urge Catholic officials in DC, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey (where the cleric worked) to
–contact former church members and staff about him seeking victims, witnesses and whistleblowers,
–publicly beg their church colleagues in Ecuador to keep him away from children, and
— aggressively seek out others who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by the priest (with pulpit announcements, church bulletins and parish websites).
When:
Monday, Sept. 21 at 1:30 p.m.
Where:
Outside the US Conference of Catholic Bishops headquarters, 3211 4th street, NE in Washington DC
Who:
3 to 4 members of an international support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Missouri woman who is the organization’s long time outreach director
Why:
A year-long investigation by Global Post made public last week reveals that at least five predator priests from the US and Europe were quietly moved to South America where they continued to work in ministry. This is a trend, SNAP says, that is increasing: child molesting clerics being sent abroad to evade justice. The group suspects there are hundreds of “proven, admitted, and credibly accused” abusive clergy working who’ve moved to other nations.
The Post’s findings mirror similar investigations made in 2013 by the Chicago Tribune and an even more thorough one in 2004 by Dallas Morning News.
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