BELLEVILLE (IL)
Fox 2 News
By Erika Tallan
January 23, 2019
Representatives with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) protested Wednesday in front of the Belleville Archdiocese calling out Belleville Bishop Edward Braxton and his list of “credibly accused” clergy.
SNAP says his list is incomplete because it leaves out 10 names as well as important information like photos, whereabouts, and work histories.
David Clohessy, a SNAP spokesperson, shared a list of 10 names of clergy who have been publicly accused in other communities across the country that he believes should be added to Braxton’s list because they are men who were ordained elsewhere and molested elsewhere but spent time in Belleville and had access to Belleville kids:
Fr. Larry Lorenzoni
Fr. Chester E. Gaiter
Fr. Kenneth J. Roberts
Fr. Fred Lenczycki
Fr. Thomas Gregory Meyer
Fr. Emil Twardochleb
Fr. Michael Charland
Fr. Orville Munie
Fr. Paul Kabat
Fr. James Vincent Fitzgerald
Clohessy said he wanted to publicly reveal the names in the community to prevent any more children from being harmed and to help victims heal.
“We believe very firmly that someone in Belleville area tonight there’s a woman or a man who will drink two bottles of wine or three 6-packs of beer to numb the pain of having being sexually violated by one of these priests and that individual needs and deserves to know that he or she is not alone and it is not their fault and that by making these names public at least some tiny measure of justice and comfort will be brought to them,” said Clohessy.
We attempted to reach the Catholic Diocese of Belleville for comment.
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