Geneva- SNAP responds to new UN report blasting Vatican
For immediate release Friday, May 23, 2014
Statement by Miguel Hurtado of the UK/Spain, SNAP leader (+44 7787 638245, [email protected])
For the second time this year, an international panel of experts is harshly criticizing the Catholic hierarchy for endangering children. We are grateful that more secular authorities are finally stepping up to safeguard children from powerful Catholic officials who commit and conceal devastating and widespread sexual violence against children. We hope this trend continues.
Most significantly, the UN panels clearly finds numerous acts by Catholic officials, in cases of child sexual assault, to constitute torture and trigger the Vatican's duty to prevent, punish and remedy torture.
We are also grateful that the UN panel isn't buying what the Vatican is selling – the patently absurd and self-serving claim that top officials in this powerful global monarchy lack real power or responsibility to protect kids from predators and must rely only on the actions of thousands of individual bishops across the planet.
The committee writes “States bear international responsibility for the acts and omissions of their officials and others acting in an official capacity or acting on behalf of the state, in conjunction with the state, under its direction or control…extends to actions and omissions.. deployed on operations abroad.”
The committee says that...
- COMPLICITY and participation in torture is a criminal act
- statutes of limitations should NOT be applicable to crimes of torture
- the Vatican refused to provide data to the committee
- there is evidence that church officials resisted mandatory reporting to civil authorities
- there should be impartial and independent monitoring and investigations “with no hierarchical connection between investigators and the alleged perpetrators…bodies carry out investigation PROMPTLY, THOROUGHLY, and IMPARTIALLY”
- results of any church abuse investigations should be made public
- church officials reconsider the concordats they have with nations that protect clerics who have committed sexual violence - constituting torture and ill-treatment - and those who have information about such crimes, from investigation and prosecution civil authorities.
The UN panel calls on Vatican officials to “take effective measures to ensure that allegations are communicated to the proper civil authorities to facilitate their investigation and prosecution of alleged perpetrators.” In 2014, after decades of this astonishing sexual violence and cover up by church officials and persistent pledges of reform by church officials, it is heartbreaking to us –and should be infuriating to millions – that church officials must still be admonished to call police and prosecutors when abuse reports surface. A clear and simple moral and civic duty recognized by nearly every adult on earth – calling law enforcement to stop predators from assaulting children – continues to be something Catholic officials refuse to do in many, many, many instances. (The committee made clear that this is a legal duty, too.)
The UN panel also calls on Vatican officials to “apply sanctions,” including dismissal from clerical service,” to “any official that fails to … react properly to credible allegations of abuse.”
Likewise, it's tragic that outside experts must urge religious figures to take this obvious, simple step to stop and deter crimes and cover ups that have done and still do so much damage to innocent and trusting boys and girls and their devout families.
In understated language, the UN committee “regrets the absence of comprehensive and disaggregated data on complaints and investigations of cases” and urges Vatican officials to “compile statistical data” on both “complaints and investigations” and “on means of redress.”
How sad. Hundreds of thousands of children's lives have been shattered because Catholic officials ignore or conceal vicious crimes, yet top church staff claim they don't have or won't share real numbers on this crisis. How sad that an international panel of experts feels compelled to tell religious figures to start counting and sharing at least basic information about these horrific violations.
The panel urges Vatican officials to “prevent the transfer of clergy who have been credibly accused of abuse for the purposes of avoiding proper investigation and punishment of their crimes.” Again, this is common sense and common decency. Catholic officials will claim they no longer do this, but they in fact still do.
(See the case of Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity)
We share the committee's view that “redress includes restitution, compensation, rehabilitation, satisfaction and the right to truth, and guarantees of non-repetition.” It's extraordinarily sad that at this juncture, few victims ever receive honest assurances that their perpetrators will be kept away from children or anything even vaguely approaching the truth about the clerics who assaulted them or who enabled other clerics to assault them. Victims are very often misled by Catholic officials about the whereabouts and living conditions of predator priests and about their other offenses.
We are grateful that the UN panel cites the very troubling and illuminating cases of Fr. Joseph Jeyapaul and Archbishop Josef Wesolowski. We would stress, however (as the committee said) that these are two of perhaps hundreds of similar current cases. They are among the most prominent examples of recent or current wrongdoing by top church officials. But they are not aberrations.
The Committee was misguided to praise one meaningless pledge by Pope Francis on this crisis. Each of the last three popes has said nice things in public about protecting kids. None of them have taken effective action to do so. So to welcome yet another in a long series of papal pabulum about heinous sexual violence is wrong and hurtful. It leads to premature and dangerous complacency and does a disservice to children who are being assaulted by clergy right now and children who will be assaulted by clergy in the future.
Given the long history of broken promises by many Catholic officials on the crisis, it also misguided at best and harmful at worst for anyone to give any credence whatsoever to the latest in a long string of biased, untested church abuse panels. Dozens or hundreds of such church committees at local levels have produced only minimal progress. It's irresponsible for anyone to praise another panel that has yet to take even one tangible step that protects even one child or exposes even one predator or enabler.
Finally, we are deeply saddened that Pope Francis, like his predecessors, claims that he and other Catholic officials in Rome can do little to stop priests, nuns, bishops and seminarians from committing and concealing horrific sexual violence against kids.
It's terrible to do nothing about a child safety crisis. It's worse to pretend to be powerless about a child safety crisis, especially when such a claim directly contradicts clear evidence to the contrary.
What next? Other secular bodies – at every governmental level – must also step up, like these two United Nations panels have, to investigate and illuminate this on-going crisis. Where wrongdoing is not being stopped, it must at least be exposed. Centuries of unhealthy deference towards corrupt religious figures must end if kids are to be safer in the church.
And more victims, witnesses and whistleblowers must also step up. Suffering in silence seems safe, but it's not. It is unhealthy. Reporting known and suspected child sex crimes is best for children and adults.
(NOTE - The Committee set as May 23, 2015 the deadline for the Vatican to report back on the steps it has taken to implement the "recommendations related to the prevention of torture and cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, and on impunity.")
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 15,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
CONTACT:
Miguel Hurtado (in Geneva) cell +44 7787 638245, [email protected]
Barbara Blaine (in Chicago) +1 312 399 4747 cell, +1 312 455 1499 office, [email protected]
David Clohessy (in Missouri) +1 314 645 5915 home, +1 314 566 9790 cell, [email protected]
Barbara Dorris (in Missouri) +1 314 503 0003 cell, [email protected]
There are also dozens of local SNAP volunteer leaders on the SNAP website who are local spokespersons for the group: SNAPnetwork.org. Also please check the SNAP website for details, media statements, etc. Also please check the website of the Center for Constitutional Rights.
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
Showing 2 comments
June 1, 2010, Cardinal George appointed Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala Jr. to the board of the US Bishop’s conference that oversees celrgy sex abuse cases. Sadly, no background check was made of the Zappala Crime Family/Terrorist Group. Here’s some background information a friend dug up in her spare time on the Zappala’s. There’s much more, but this does a good job in explaining why Cardinal George wanted a little more mob-muscle behind the US Bishop’s Conference.
Let he who has not sinned cast the first stone, and let he whose family hath been a sin-machine for generations, be banned from casting any stones. I’m talking about the Zappala’s. What does Mike Ference mean when he calls the Zappala’s a “Crime Family/Terrorist Group”. I am a genealogist, I can tell you, I have done my homework. And I have the documents to back up what I say.
Let’s begin at the beginning, Frank Zappala was DA Stephen Zappala’s grand-father. Frank’s parents were immigrants from Calabria, who first settled in New York, the Bronx on Mott Street. Frank Zappala got a law degree, which was unusual at that time for an Italian Immigrant. Most Italian immigrants then had little or no education. Frank and his wife Josephhine settled in Oakland. The rest of his family were in New Kensington, a stronghold for the gangsters of that time.
Frank’s had a sister Rose who married John Bazzano a major racketeer. Racketeer John Bazzano was the Uncle of Chief Justice Stephen Zappala. In 1932, John Bazzano got angry about the popular Volpe brothers infringing on his racketeering territory, so he had three of them killed in broad daylight on Wylie Avenue in the Hill-District section of Pittsburgh.
Bazzano’s murder of the Volpe’s was not sanctioned by Lucky Luciano in New York. Bazzano was called to New York to answer for murdering without permission. Charles “Lucky” Luciano’s underboss Vito Genovese, a very brutal man had Albert Anastasia, whose side business was Murder Inc. whack John Bazzano brutally for misbehaving. And quite a Brutal Whacking it was. Bazzano came back to Pittsburgh with 22 stab wounds from ice picks, a dead pin cushion.
It was also quiet a scandal in the day, both in New York and in Pittsburgh. Rose Zappala retreated to New Kensington with her children in tow, as well as her father Joseph. Eventually her son John Bazzano Jr. took up his father’s business. John Jr, married into the Ripepi Crime family. He married Frances Ripepi.
One of her sisters married into the Valenti Crime family which included Constenzo, Stanley Valenti and Frank Valenti. It was Stanley who married the Ripepi girl, but it was Frank Valenti who was the man.. dapper, charming, good looking and deadly. Stanley and Frank due to their marriages were into both the Pittsburgh and Rochester New York Rackets.
One of Franks favorite schemes was to blow up a building on one side of Rochester while he was committing a crime on the other side of town. At the time, these bombings got blamed on the Vietnam Hippie Protesters. Frank let them take the rap. Frank lived a long life and died in Houston Tx in 2008.
In Western Pennsylvania at this time the Western PA crime family was the LaRocca Family. There were about 8 or 9 chief families under the LaRoccas. Of those the Zappala’s are closely related to at least three.
How do the Zappala’s factor into all of this? They were the lawyers in the family. All I can say here is that when I read about other crime organizations that span this time frame, there is always what they called an Ambassador of the Underworld, who bridged the underworld to the upper-world. The job of these ambassadors was to grease the way of illegitimate business to legitimate business, and provided protection.
For instance when you read of Frank Valenti crimes in Rochester it usually says that the powers in Pittsburgh got him off the hook. Let’s’ take it a step further, DA Zappala’s law partner was Charles Porter, he is Chuckie Porter’s son. Chuckie Porter was huge in the Pittsburgh rackets working with Michael Genovese as his underboss. Michael was the nephew of Vito Genovese in New York who was mentioned above.
Chuckie Porter was also one of the biggest cocaine distributors around. That is a lot of “Family”. It is way too much to all be a coincidence.
Why is this kept quiet? Well let me put it this way, many people know about this, Italians know, people in power know, the average person who votes does not know though. They have a right to know. If all of this were made public, it would kill a political career. It is UN-survivable.
If there was nothing here to hide, why are the Zappala’s hiding it? The bigger question is, how on God’s Green earth, do people who climbed their way to the top this way deserve to sit in judgment of anybody.
And why is it not being pointed out that DA Stephen Zappala, through his witch hunt, show trials, which destroy peoples’ lives and the fabric of our community, is acting just like his Chief Justice father did, when he wanted to get his political opponent Judge Larsen out of the way.
These political assassinations are no different at all, except in method, than racketeer John Bazzano whacking the Volpe Brothers in broad daylight on Wylie Avenue, because they were doing business on his “turf”, which threatened his business interests. I say, the next time the Zappala’s run for office, “out” their family tree to the public and let the public decide.