ITALY - Victims release "dirty dozen" list

• Victims release “Dirty Dozen” list
• “None of them should be next pope,” they say
• All 12, from 10 nations, are considered ‘papabile’
• Group blasts prelates “who pretend the worst is over”
• Scandal has yet to surface in most nations, victims contend
• It’s ‘shameless spin’ & ‘deliberate deception’ to claim otherwise,” they say

WHAT

Holding signs and childhood photos, at a news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will release a list of the 12 “worst” prelates who’ve been identified at likely papal candidates, based on their records in dealing with clergy sex crime and cover ups. They will also urge the College of Cardinals to

--elect no one on their list as the next pope, and

--stop pretending the crisis has abated, since it remains deeply hidden in the vast majority of nations (where most Catholics live), and has really only become widely known- and barely addressed - in the US about a decade ago and in a few European countries even more recently.

WHEN

TODAY, Wednesday, March 6 at 10:30 a.m.

WHO

Two leaders of an international support group for clergy sex abuse victims called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including the organization’s long-time executive director

WHERE

The Orange Hotel at 86 Via Crescenzio in Rome (+39 06 686 8969)

WHY

Two or three dozen prelates have been publicly named in credible and multiple mainstream media reports and on betting websites as serious contenders for the papacy. Based largely on news accounts, legal filings and victims’ experiences, SNAP has compiled a list of 12 of them that the group considers the worst choices in terms of protecting kids, healing victims, and exposing corruption.

The list includes prelates from ten nations: Honduras, Mexico, Canada, Ghana, Australia, Italy, Argentina, the Czech Republic and the US.

Three Cardinals on the list have been strongly and recently criticized by SNAP (Turkson, Mariadeiga, and Dolan.) Several others are considered by some to be “reformers,” but SNAP contends they have largely benefited from outstanding public relations and from being in jurisdictions where criminal and/or civil legal action against complicit church officials and child molesting clerics is very restricted.

Earlier this week, SNAP opposed the election of any member of the Roman Curia. The group feels no current Vatican “insider” has the will to truly “clean house” in the Vatican and elsewhere. SNAP also maintains that promoting a Curia member would discourage victims, witnesses, whistleblowers and advocates from reporting wrongdoing. (This includes “papabiles” Ouellet, Turkson, Sandri, Bertone, and Pell. For a full list of Curia members: http://www.gcatholic.org/dioceses/romancuria.htm)

Today’s list contains only church officials whose names have been reported as serious or likely papal possibilities in at least two recent mainstream news sources.

There are other Cardinals who are not generally considered ‘papabiles’ who SNAP would also oppose. They include: Connell (Ireland), Brady (Ireland), O’Brien (Scotland), Sodano (Italy), Re (Italy), Danneels (Belgium) and the following from the US: Egan, Rigali, Burke, Law, Maida, Levada, Mahony, and O’Brien.

SNAP will also criticize church officials for misleading parishioners and the public by claiming the crisis is largely over. History, psychology and common sense all indicate that the vast majority of clergy sex crimes and cover ups in the developing world are yet to be exposed. Further, SNAP believes that tens of thousands of predatory priests across the world still live and work among unsuspecting families and flocks. (Church officials admit that there are 6,100 accused predator priests in the US alone.)

We hear less about clergy sex crimes and cover ups in Africa, Asia, and South America, SNAP maintains, because there tends to be less funding for law enforcement, less vigorous civil justice systems, less independent journalism, and an even greater power and wealth difference between church officials and their congregants.

CONTACT (in Italy) David Clohessy's Italian cell 339 215 7504 ([email protected]), Barbara Dorris' Italian cell 334 791 2239 ([email protected]). Our hotel: NH Villa Campagna, Via Pio IV, 6 – Phone 39 393731 - Clohessy-Room 220, Dorris-Room 320)

CONTACT (in US) Peter Isely (on Central US time) 414 429 7259, [email protected] - Joelle Casteix (on Pacific US time) 949 322 7434, [email protected] - Becky Ianni (on Eastern US time) 703 801 6044, [email protected]