Blog

Blog by David Clohessy, former Executive Director of SNAP and longtime survivor advocate.

The most secretive and reckless US Catholic bishops are the men heading these dioceses:

Marcel G. Gagnon
January 8, 1939 – April 30, 2021

SNAP pays tribute to Marcel G. Gagnon, one of the earliest supporters of our mission. We offer our condolences to Marcel’s family and friends.

Marcel G. Gagnon, of Old Orchard Beach, died suddenly on April 30, 2021 in Portland, Maine.  He was born in Biddeford on January 8, 1939 to Adolphe (François-Xavier) and Delvina (Canuel) Gagnon.  He attended École Saint-Joseph, and Saint-Louis High School, where he played drums in the marching band.  After his graduation in 1958, he joined the U.S. Army, and received training in what would become his vocation, culinary arts. He served at Fort Devens, MA, Fort Bragg, NC, and in Keflavik, Iceland.  Following the Army, he worked for several years at the Colonly Hotel, for 25 years for Reilley’s bakery, and then for another 20 years for Maine Medical Centre coordinating Bakery Services.

Marcel’s sense of duty carried on through his involvement in first the Cub Scouts, followed by his work in the Boy Scouts, where he was Troop Master for Troop 309 for several years. He was forever proud of having taken the troop on a cycle tour of Yarmouth, Nova Scotia, travelling aboard the Prince of Fundy. Marcel was also involved in advocacy for sexual abuse survivors and co-founded with his wife, Claudette, the first SNAP New England Chapter in Maine.  He was also active in his faith community of that period, serving as a Eucharistic Minister.

We are delighted to announce that MK Safety Net has become a Bronze Level Sponsor for SNAP’s 2021 virtual mini-conferences. Each of these one-day conferences is free to attendees and will provide new resources for support of and education to our audience of advocates, sexual abuse survivors, and their families.

This blog was written by Adults Sexually Abused by Priests (ASAP)

I have heard it said that until you learn a lesson, it will keep repeating.

Let me be clear, I’m not blaming anyone for what was done to them. What I am saying is….do you ever ask yourself why a certain something always seems to happen to you?

This blog was written by Adults Sexually Abused by Priests (ASAP)

One of the rules of SNAP is that we are not supposed to ask for or give advice. Yet many survivors have important questions and seek guidance and reassurance. The best way, of course, to learn and to share knowledge is to pass along our own experiences. That is encouraged in SNAP meetings. We express how we feel and what has worked for us and let others listen and take from that what makes sense to them and what will help them.

This blog was written by Adults Sexually Abused by Priests (ASAP)

When you grow up in a dysfunctional situation….and by that I mean one in which the concept of self and what it means to be loved and your worthiness for affection and attention…are not ideal to set you on the path towards a future of healthy adulthood…life can be confusing.

The below statement was given by Richard Hayes Phillips during the Survivor Speak Out sponsored by SNAP, The Army of Survivors, and Together 4 Girls on April 8 World Day for Prevention. We are grateful to Richard for sharing his story with us and hope it inspires other survivors to come forward and find their own path towards healing, prevention, and justice.

This blog was written by Adults Sexually Abused by Priests (ASAP)

This past week, I stumbled across a movie called “Compliance”. It is a deeply disturbing film about how far someone will go to obey an authority figure. What makes it even more disturbing is that it is based on fact. You don’t know this until the end, however, when you find out that what happens in the movie has taken place over 70 times in 30 different states. For real.

This blog was written by Adults Sexually Abused by Priests (ASAP)

Well, last week we found out that most people are somewhat happy. That’s good. This week we are polling people about their sense of paranoia.

We discussed this a bit in our weekly meeting and one person suggested using a site called “Delete Me” which is supposed to track and delete your information that is collected on-line. He said there is a fee of $129.00 a year for this service. I’m not recommending this site. As with any site, use caution. I just wanted to pass that information along to anyone who may be uncomfortable with the stuff that people can find on them.

Along the way, I have heard from people who have had to pull up roots because of their abuse by the church. And they don’t just fear the clergy. Some people have been harassed by fine church-going people in their neighborhood.

At their annual meeting held in Lourdes, French bishops have expressed their shame and accepted responsibility for the decades of sexual abuse perpetrated by Catholic priests.  However they offer only "financial compensation" to victims while rejecting the legally fraught notions of compensation or reparation.