Here, you’ll find SNAP events, victims’ testimonials, press releases and current news about the Catholic clergy child abuse epidemic.
What is SNAP? From their website (http://www.snapnetwork.org/):
“We are the largest, oldest and most active support group for women and men wounded by religious and institutional authorities (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns, coaches, teachers, and others).”
Their motto:
Protect the vulnerable. Heal the wounded. Prevent the abuse.
Take Action and Stop Child Sexual Abuse
If you see child sexual abuse, or have a reasonable suspicion of sexual abuse or your child has been sexually abused, call 911 or your local police immediately.
If you suspect abuse, call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or visit the Child Help Hotline. Trained crisis operators staff the lines 24/7 to answer your questions. If necessary, they will show you how to report in your local area.
Child pornography is a federal crime. If you see or suspect images that may be child pornography, report to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children CyberTip Line.
In August 2014 SNAP entered a community partnership with StoryCorps. Since 2003 StoryCorps has collected and archived more than 50,000 interviews with over 90,000 participants. With the storyteller’s permission, each conversation is preserved at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress.
StoryCorps is one of the largest oral history projects of its kind, and millions listen to their weekly broadcasts on NPR’s Morning Edition and on their Listen pages. SNAP President Barbara Blaine was interviewed by her friend and mentor Judge Sheila Murphy and the story aired on WBEZ in Chicago August 1.
In honor of the 25th Anniversary of SNAP, during the 2014 National Conference Aug 1-3, StoryCorps reserved two full recording days for SNAP members to share their stories. We are so proud of the brave survivors who have made their stories available to you with the hope that those who have not yet found the courage, will be inspired to come forward.
Since then, others have been able to record at the StoryCorps booths in San Francisco, Atlanta and Chicago. They even have a mobile booth that may be coming to a town near you soon. We would love to hear your story! Explore the links below for more information. As always, feel free to call the SNAP office with any questions, 314-282-9936.
For more information about recording your story with StoryCorps for SNAP, click here.
For a list of sample questions to help get you started, click here.
To sign up for a time slot to record your story, visit the storycorps.org website by clicking here.
For sample audio stories, visit: https://soundcloud.com/survivors-network
Interesting articles:
From The Catholic Herald, September 12, 2019
How long before the Vatican steps into the Buffalo crisis?
By Christopher Altieri https://catholicherald.co.uk/magazine/how-long-before-the-vatican-steps-into-the-buffalo-crisis/
“What are they waiting for?” That was the question with which ABC News headlined its recent report on the ongoing crisis in the Diocese of Buffalo, where Bishop Richard Malone faces growing calls for his resignation.
ABC’s question was directed at higher Church authorities in the US and in Rome, which so far have been hesitant to move against Bishop Malone or the diocese.
The question may have been rhetorical, but it is worthwhile and even necessary to recognise some of the host of legal and political issues any action at any level would raise, both within the Church and the secular sphere.
Why does this matter? This question for the Vatican, “What are they waiting for?” applies to all the cases and decades of abuse gone unreported. Why isn’t the Pope getting more involved in this epidemic of priest abuse in the Roman Catholic faith? One can’t help but wonder whether the Pope himself is a perpetrator. Look what happened to Cardinal Law after the Spotlight team busted open the rampant abuse in the Boston Diocese: he got promoted by the Vatican.
From “News Story of the Day” from the SNAP Website, Sept. 12, 2019:
Catholics poured their hearts out to Bishop Malone. He blocked their emails. https://www.snapnetwork.org/catholics_poured_their_hearts_out_to_bishop_malone_he_blocked_their_emails
BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Last week, Bishop Malone said he was getting mostly positive feedback from Catholics about his handling of multiple sexual abuse scandals .
“Just today [I got] probably 12 or 13 either voicemails or emailing saying, ‘Stay with it, we need you, do not resign,’” Malone said Friday.
But that would soon change.
Within hours of hearing the bishop’s interview, Catholics across Western New York — young and old, practicing and lapsed — began flooding the bishop’s email with letters asking him to resign.
Many of the Catholics — 52 of them, to be exact — copied the 7 Eyewitness News I-Team on the emails sent to the bishop. All 52 asked for his immediate resignation.
“I think we’ve all come to the realization now that it’s time for the bishop to go,” said William Ogilvie, a parishioner at Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church in Clarence. “The large majority of people in my parish specifically — and in all the parishes, from what I have seen — the large majority want the bishop to resign.”
The messages sent by Catholics to the bishop said things like:
“…You have failed your people. You have failed your flock. It is time to step down…”
“…Because of you Bishop, I have thought of leaving the faith…”
“…I pray that you do the right thing. Step do…
Read the rest of the story here.
Why does this matter? To me, it hits a personal chord. Not only was my late husband’s perpetrator named “Malone,” but when I went to Archbishop Stepinac High School to find answers, the current principal and former fellow classmate of my husband, Father Thomas Collins, hid from me in his third-floor bedroom and blocked my emails.
August 14, 2019
(Harrisburg) — One year ago today, Pennsylvania emerged at the
epicenter of the global clergy sex abuse crisis. The 40th Statewide
Investigating Grand Jury outlined in horrific details the criminality and concealment of child sex crimes on the part of the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania.
The report seemed a watershed moment for victims and for advocates looking to reverse decades of legal inaction against church officials.
The 18-month-long investigation – the most exhaustive state investigation into clergy sex abuse – uncovered decades-long abuse and concealment of thousands of children at the hands of more than 300 clergy across six dioceses, including the Diocese of Harrisburg.
“Predators in every diocese weaponized the Catholic faith and used it as a tool of their abuse,” Attorney General Josh Shapiro said last August as he released the findings of the investigation, surrounded by several dozen victims of child sex abuse.
Here’s a related, heartbreaking story:
‘No more pain’ victim wrote of Pa. priest sex abuse, as he and others took their own lives
By Sam Ruland, York Daily Record, part of the USA Today Network
August 21, 2018
In a detailed letter to the Diocese of Pittsburgh, a man outlined the extensive abuse he endured at the hands of a priest while serving as an altar boy in his hometown parish.
He classified his experiences as sexual, physical and emotional abuse — memories that plagued his mind for years, and ones he certainly couldn’t escape.
The details recounted in his case, contained in last week’s release of the Pennsylvania grand jury report on priest sex abuse, are graphic, describing situations involving anal and oral sex.
Through tears, he cried out, “No Father,” as the Rev. Richard Dorsch held the victim’s hand firm around the priest’s genitals. And the other assaults were similar, just as intensely damaging, as the victim described.
When confronted with the allegations, Dorsch did not deny them. He did not act as though the name of the victim was one he didn’t recognize.
Rather, he acknowledged the abuse — somewhat. He said he was “inappropriate with the victim.” By Google standards, “inappropriate” is simply defined as “not suitable or proper in the circumstances.”
There was nothing simple about this abuse though.
The diocese began paying for the victim’s mental health treatment in July 2008, one month after he attempted suicide.
He documented how he felt during those desperate moments:
“Early in the summer this year — in fact, it was the day of the summer solstice itself— I attempted to take my own life. It happened in the wee hours of the morning following a night of heavy drink, which my doctors have explained may have induced an inescapable episodic flashback of sexual abuse, which has haunted me over the years. This time, however, the pain of that flashback I couldn’t stand any longer, and decided that enough was enough. No more pain I thought as I swallowed dozens of pills.”
Almost two years later, in March 2010, the diocese told the victim they would no longer pay for his mental health treatment. A reason or explanation was not given in the grand jury report. It is not certain if the victim was given one himself.
But what is certain is that the victim took his own life two months later.
And while his story is tragic, it’s not the only one of its kind. The grand jury report documents 12 other priests whose victims either attempted suicide or died by suicide. One instance involves the priest himself, who died by suicide, claiming he also was a victim of abuse.
Why does this matter? Stories like these demonstrate the damage done by these abusive Catholic priest and how, for many–like my late husband’s–the repercussions are deadly.
Priest sex abuse report to be released by Burlington diocese before end of month
By Elizabeth Murray, Burlington Free Press
August 6, 2019
Statements by Coyne [Burlington’s Roman Catholic Diocese Bishop] and the lay committee come amidst criticism from the international nonprofit support group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) for failing, up to this point, to publicly name the priests against whom abuse allegations have been substantiated. Last week, the Catholic Diocese of Manchester published a list of priests accused of sexually abusing children.
More: Burlington Diocese to release names of priests accused of sexual abuse
David Clohessy, a SNAP volunteer leader from Missouri, spoke to reporters outside the Diocese on Monday afternoon while holding a sign that showed the link to SNAP’s website, SNAPnetwork.org. He accused the Diocese of dragging its heels in releasing the report, thus further endangering children that may be exposed to the priests in the community.
“The main issue is that child molesters rarely stop,” Clohessy said. “So, while Bishop Coyne will puff out his chest and say, ‘None of these men are in active ministry,’ literally as we speak, one of them could be helping out at a summer camp as a soccer coach.”
David Clohessy, a priest sex abuse victim from Missouri who is a volunteer leader for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, speaks to reporters outside the offices of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Burlington in South Burlington on Monday, Aug. 5, 2019. (Photo: ELIZABETH MURRAY/FREE PRESS)
Coyne, in an emailed statement, said the diocese provided the independent review committee with “the time needed to ensure a thorough and accurate accounting of credibly accused priests.” That review has taken longer than initially anticipated.
Why does this matter? The longer the Diocese of Burlington waits (and it’s been decades!), the more children will be abused, their lives destroyed forever.
It’s never too late to report sexual assault
By Lynne Marie Wanamaker and Cindy Beal
Last modified: Monday, December 01, 2014
EASTHAMPTON — We were appalled to see a misinformed opinion piece by Christine Flowers in the Nov. 21 Gazette. Christine Flowers’ guest essay — “Cosby accusers waited too long” — stands as a worst-case example of what not to say when someone takes the courageous step of disclosing a violation.
Experts in sexual violence, trauma and recovery know that it is never too late to tell. Experts also know that how we respond to survivors can have a profound influence on their resilience and recovery. In the words of trauma expert Judith Herman, our compassionate witness can fulfill “the hope that restorative love may still be found in the world.” These are some things survivors of sexual and domestic violence need — and deserve — to hear: It was not your fault. If someone made the reprehensible choice to hurt you, that was their fault. No matter how many times you think about what happened or how, it was not your fault.
You can and should tell anyone you want. No matter if it is an hour after you were hurt or a hundred years.
Truth is truth, and you have the right to speak yours. It might start out as a wail, but after that the words will come.
There are many of us who will listen to you, who will hear you, who are sorry that it happened to you. Some of us because it happened to us, too. Some of us because we are people with big hearts and open eyes who see and feel truths that are so painful about our culture that lets this happen over and over again.
Know this: We are in your houses of worship and nursery schools and shopping centers. We are at Safe Passage: On the hotline, in supportive services, and running and cheering at the Hot Chocolate Run to promote freedom from violence in Hampshire County. And we are in your adult ed classes, your kid’s basketball camp, the auto repair shop. You are surrounded by people who will listen and believe you.
We understand that there are hundreds of reasons someone might not tell the story of a sexual assault right away. Some of them are rooted in the neurobiology of trauma: The things that happen in our brains and bodies when we are overwhelmed by violations.
Some of us didn’t tell because we were afraid of hurting the people we loved. Or we were afraid that the people who loved us — our dads, our mothers — might kill the people who had hurt us. Some of us didn’t tell because we were afraid we would be killed.
Some of us did tell, but we were not believed. Or we were blamed. Or we were asked many questions to which we did not have answers. And it was a long time before we tried telling again.
Some of us didn’t tell because we needed help to find the words. Sometimes that help came from people who loved and believed us. Sometimes it came from skilled professionals who understand how trauma works and how humans heal.
Some of us didn’t tell because we could not bear to bring the scrutiny of a victim-blaming culture into our most vulnerable moment.
[my bold]
Whenever we talk about violence, survivors are listening. The Centers for Disease Control tell us that one in two U.S. women has experienced a sexual assault that was not a rape, and one in five has experienced rape.
Studies show that 27 percent of women and 16 percent of men have experienced childhood sexual abuse.
If we say publicly that one survivor waited “too long” to tell, we tell those who have not yet disclosed that we will not stand with them when they are ready. In so doing, we become an obstacle to healing. We collude with the perpetrators and become part of the culture of violence.
We disavow this. We stand with and for survivors. It is never too late to tell. [my bold]
Cindy Beal runs Justice and Peace Consulting in Easthampton and Lynne Marie Wanamaker is a violence prevention educator in Easthampton.
Personal side-note: My late husband’s abuser lived in nearby Southampton at the time of his death.
Why does this matter? Because my late husband, like many victims of priest abuse, needed to die with the shame of this experience rather than tell.