WASHINGTON (DC)
SNAP/Ending Clergy Abuse
June 14, 2019
To the Attorneys General currently investigating cases of clergy sex abuse,
We are leaders of two of the United States’ foremost groups dealing with the issue of clergy sex abuse. While our organizations personnel and makeup may differ, we stand together in order to support survivors of clerical abuse and to advocate for change that prevents future cases of abuse from ever occurring in the first place.
For decades, we have heard promises from church officials regarding their efforts to clean-up the culture of cover-up and abuse that has permeated the Catholic Church. Yet it has been the actions taken by you that has finally given us hope for true, meaningful reform.
This week in Baltimore, America’s bishops gathered together and approved several changes in their internal policies related to sexual abuse. True to what we have seen in the past, these changes include no specific involvement from secular officials concerning sex crimes by clergy and church officials, and do not require the reporting of allegations to local, state or federal law enforcement. These measures, in effect, further codify and cement a system of internal reporting and investigation that could impede current investigations you are conducting. Once again, under the euphemism of ‘reform,’ church leaders in the U.S. have created, as they have for years, another iteration of a self-policing mechanism that does little but protect and hide criminal abusers and complicit bishops from justice.
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