UNITED STATES
International Business Times
BY JULIA GLUM @SUPERJULIA ON 04/09/16
When David Clohessy was young, his Roman Catholic priest would regularly take him on overnight trips to go camping, skiing or canoeing in Missouri. And then, once the sun had set and Clohessy was sleeping, the priest would assault him.
Decades later, Clohessy doesn’t want any child ever to be in that situation. That’s why he’s fighting for justice as the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, nicknamed SNAP, and that’s why he was so frustrated Friday morning after reading the newest statement from Pope Francis.
In keeping with his modern image, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church issued a 264-page document called “Amoris Laetitia,” or in English “The Joy of Love,” urging church leaders to be more welcoming toward followers who may be gay, lesbian, divorced or remarried. But there’s one group of people still waiting for that kind of recognition: clergy abuse survivors. They said Francis, who’s been hailed for tackling everything from climate change to Cuban diplomacy, again skipped over the international scandal that’s implicated thousands of suspects in sex crimes and cover-ups. Before writing policy documents, they argued, he needs to solve the ongoing crisis in the church.
“It’s very tough for us to understand how seemingly every other issue takes precedence — especially because on everything else, the pope really is powerless,” said Clohessy, who lives in St. Louis. “But instead of taking real action that makes a real difference, he’s content to do, and, in fact is masterful at, these meaningless feel-good gestures that are essentially public relations maneuvers.”
“Amoris Laetitia” mentions the word “abuse” only six times. It’s linked with the church once, to say that “the sexual abuse of children is all the more scandalous when it occurs in places where they ought to be most safe, particularly in families, schools, communities and Christian institutions.” The Catholic Church’s sex scandal is otherwise left out.
The worldwide crisis includes more than 17,200 Americans who have alleged they were abused by more than 6,400 clerics from 1950 to 2013, according to a review of data by BishopAccountability.org, a website and nonprofit that tracks reports of sexual misconduct in the church. An award-winning 2002 Boston Globe investigation is widely credited with exposing the U.S. part in the scandal, which resurfaced this past November with the release of “Spotlight,” a movie that showcased the reporting process and recently won the Oscar for Best Picture.
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