IL--Priest with Chicago-based group is accused of strangling a four month old
For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
Statement by Melanie Jula Sakoda, Orthodox Christian Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (925-708-6175, [email protected])
A priest with a Chicago-based group was charged with strangling an infant last week. We urge his church supervisors and colleagues to aggressively help law enforcement investigate and prosecute this cleric and do everything they can to find others who may have information or suspicions about his crimes.
Father Oleh Zhownirovych is or was a priest in the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP), based in Bloomingdale IL (in the western Chicago suburbs). The crime took place in a Kansas City KS suburb.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150310073501/http://en.uockp.net/clergy.html
http://www.pokrov.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/UOC-KP-Clergy-List-2015.pdf
Zhownirovych worked at Holy Ascension Cathedral in Clifton, New Jersey. According to the vice president of the parish council, the married priest led the church for 15 years. However, his wife and two children eventually left him, and he was removed from ministry last year because of his drinking.http://www.northjersey.com/news/clifton-church-cut-ties-with-priest-accused-of-choking-baby-over-drinking-problem-1.1681325The UOC-KP is a very small Orthodox Church. It is led by Archpriest Victor Poliarny (630-217-5524,[email protected]) of Elgin.http://en.uockp.net/vicariate.html
We call on Poliarny to reach out to staff, volunteers and parishioners at the Clifton parish and anywhere else the accused priest has worked.Behavior like this doesn’t usually just begin in someone Father Oleh’s age. Father Victor should be reaching out to the priest’s family and to current and former parishioners, encouraging anyone who was abused by the priest, who witnessed abuse by the priest, or who suspected the priest of abuse to report to law enforcement.If Father Oleh did show a sudden change in personality, the vicariate should reveal all that they did to get the priest the help that he must have needed, especially since the clergyman has now assaulted an innocent baby!
We also feel that Poliarny should clarify the clergyman’s current status: is Zhownirovych on a leave of absence, suspended, or defrocked? In addition, we believe that the vicariate should share with police what it has in its files about the reasons behind the priest’s removal from his parish.No matter what church officials do or don’t do, we hope that individuals would protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 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 - Melanie Jula Sakoda (925-708-6175, [email protected]), Cappy Larson (415-637-2006, [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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