IL - Cardinal George insults Catholics with spurious claim, SNAP responds
For immediate release: Friday, Oct. 4, 2013
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])
Cardinal Francis George is being deliberately deceitful and insulting the intelligence of Chicago Catholic officials. He claims that he can’t stop a priest from counseling grieving adults and kids for a police department.
Specifically, through one of his public relations staffers, that he “has no authority to remove” Fr. Robert Stepek from his job in Burbank.
Cardinal George can, of course, assign a priest to all kinds of jobs – in a parish, school, hospital, cemetery or chancery office. But he says he can’t prevent a priest from working in a secular job. Nonsense.
He’s a Cardinal. He heads the third largest archdiocese in America. He’s the former head of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops. He helps pick the pope. But despite all this, in reality, he would have us believe that he’s powerless over one of his own priests. This defies common sense.
Imagine a Chicago priest working for “The Coalition for Assisted Suicide” or “Chicago Catholics for Gay Marriage” or “Citizens For the Death Penalty.” Now imagine Cardinal George shrugging his shoulders and claiming “Sorry, I’m powerless.”
Imagine any boss or supervisor saying “I’m paying this employee but I have no control over him at all.”
It’s the height of arrogance, deceit and recklessness for Chicago top Catholic official to insist he can’t stop a suspended, credibly accused child molesting cleric from counseling grieving adults and kids for a police department.
Cardinal George should order Fr. Stepek to quit the Burbank job. He should order Fr. Stepek into a treatment center. He should order his public relations staff to do everything in their power to publicize the credible child sex abuse allegations against Fr. Stepek and beg victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call police so that Fr. Stepek might be charged, convicted and imprisoned so he won’t be able to hurt more kids in the future.
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
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