SNAP Asks Priest Abuse Survivors to Share Their Stories As Part of New It's Not My Fault Project

By Holly Meyer
Nashville Tennessean
January 3, 2019

https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/religion/2019/01/03/snap-tennessee-asks-priest-abuse-survivors-share-their-stories-part-its-not-my-fault-project/2473826002/

Susan Vance of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, speaks to the media about alleged Catholic clergy abuse in Tennessee on Nov. 9 outside the Chancery Office of the Diocese of Knoxville.

A victim advocacy group is encouraging survivors of clergy sex abuse to share their stories as part of a new initiative.

The Tennessee chapter of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests announced Thursday that it is launching the It's Not My Fault Project to raise awareness about clergy abuse across the state.

Victim stories can be powerful, said Susan Vance, a leader of SNAP of Tennessee.

"It's a greater impact than numbers and ambiguous things that we say," Vance said. "When you talk about people's lives and what they had to go through as children, teens or vulnerable adults, it makes a difference. It makes all the difference."

She hopes that by making the stories available on a new website called hopechronicles.org that people throughout Tennessee will better understand the plight of victims and push for state laws that add more protections for children.

Vance thinks sharing the stories also can help the victims find hope and peace, adding that anonymity is an option for those who want to participate.

"By sharing, letting others see, they can get some consolation that what they're going through hasn't been in vain and can help others heal as well," Vance said.

The project comes on the heels of the recent death of ex-priest Edward McKeown, who previously worked in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Nashville. He died Sunday while serving a 25-year prison sentence. McKeown was convicted in 1999 of the rape of a teenage boy a decade after he was forced from the priesthood.

SNAP of Tennessee's new website, which is still under construction, lists McKeown as well as other former Nashville diocese priests accused of sexually abusing minors.

In November, the diocese released their names in response to the summer's damning Pennsylvania grand jury report that found widespread abuse and church cover-up in six of the state's dioceses. None of the former priests the Nashville diocese named are active in ministry and many are dead.

Reporting abuse: Nashville Bishop urges Catholics to report abuse in the wake of Pennsylvania's priest scandal

This week, Vance put out a call on Facebook for survivors to share their stories. Hours later, a victim who reached out during that exchange inspired the new project.

"It really sent me reeling," said Vance, who has been involved in this advocacy work since the early 2000s. "Here is somebody I didn't know existed, who had never contacted us and who was really suffering."

Reach Holly Meyer at hmeyer@tennessean.com or 615-259-8241 and on Twitter @HollyAMeyer.