LITTLE ROCK (AR)
Bilgrimage
January 13, 2019
By William Lindsey
On the front page of today’s Charlotte Observer: a headline reading, “PRIESTS ACCUSED OF SEX ABUSE,” with a notice that the Catholic diocese of Charlotte, North Carolina, still has not released names of priests credibly accused of child sex abuse. The headline points readers to an article inside the front section of the paper that appeared several days ago in the online copy of the paper, but is being published in the print-media copy for the first time for today’s Sunday edition.
The article, entitled “Why hasn’t Charlotte Catholic diocese released list of priests accused of sex abuse?,” by Tim Funk, reports a series of evasive statements by diocesan spokesman David Hains, one of which is that survivors would be harmed by having this information in the public sphere. To which SNAP’s David Clohessy replies, in a word, “Baloney”:
As for Hains’ claim that releasing a list might “re-traumatize” victims, the former leader of a national group that represents the victims of clergy sex abuse had a one-word reaction: “Baloney.”
“The overwhelming majority of survivors WANT this info out there,” David Clohessy, who is still active in the St. Louis-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, wrote in an email to the Observer.
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