Media Statements
We are SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. We are the largest, oldest and most active support group for women and men wounded by religious authority figures (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns and others).
Archdiocese of Santa Fe Completes Bankruptcy
(For Immediate Release March 22, 20223)
Contact: Contact: Mary O’Day (602-677-2188 [email protected]) Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager ([email protected], 267-261-0578) Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for more than 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Diocese of Oakland Considers Bankruptcy; SNAP Responds
(For Immediate Release March 17, 2023)
The Bishop of the Diocese of Oakland says he is “strongly” considering declaring bankruptcy because of an avalanche of lawsuits. Bishop Michael Barber directs his letter to “Parishioners and Friends” of the Diocese and laments the property he will need to sell and bankruptcy’s impact on his plan to realign parishes because of a priest shortage.
Nowhere in his letter does he lament the harm done to the 330 souls who have sued his Diocese. Nowhere does he acknowledge these people were part of the Oakland Diocese. They were baptized and confirmed, they were altar servers or attended Catholic schools. Their families entrusted their children to the priests who molested them, and those families donated their time and money to the Diocese. They in effect paid the clergy who destroyed their children's lives.
Bishop Barber is woeful about his problems but seems to view the victims simply as a large number and not human beings who deserve both his compassion as well as just reparations.
Albany Diocese Declares Bankruptcy
(For Immediate Release March 16, 2023)
In a move that, in our opinion, tries to prevent the public from realizing the scope of clergy sexual abuse that has occurred inside its borders, the Diocese of Albany, New York, filed for bankruptcy. This makes the 5th out of the 8 Catholic Dioceses in New York to do so.
As we see it, this proposed bankruptcy plan would limit a victim's ability to receive compensation and, more importantly, would prevent them from obtaining the bishop’s secret records, which would reveal the extent of past and ongoing cover-ups. The New York Child Victims Act was designed to give survivors access to the truth and a path to justice. It's difficult to imagine bankruptcy court is being used in Albany in good faith given how frequently Catholic jurisdictions have abused it in similar ways over the past few years.
In a statement to the press, Bishop Scharfenberger offered these remarks. “The decision to file was not arrived at easily and I know it may cause pain and suffering, but we, as a Church, can get through this and grow stronger together,” Scharfenberger’s statement said.
Diocese of Santa Rosa Files for Bankruptcy; SNAP Responds
(For Immediate Release March 14, 2023)
Yet another Roman Catholic Diocese has filed for bankruptcy, shielding itself from true accountability and abusing court rules to keep the public and parishioners in the dark about the true scope of clergy abuse in their area.
Yesterday, the Diocese of Santa Rosa, CA, filed for bankruptcy in a move that, in our opinion, aims to keep the public from understanding the extent of clergy sexual abuse that has taken place inside its boundaries. It is difficult to believe that the Diocese is as impoverished as it claims, especially given that Church officials bragged in their latest annual report about their “biggest year ever” in terms of fundraising.
California’s Child Victims Act aimed to give survivors access to the truth and a route to justice, but this proposed bankruptcy strategy would restrict a victim's ability to obtain compensation and, more importantly, would bar them from obtaining the Bishop's confidential records which would reveal the scope of previous and present cover-ups. Given that bankruptcy court has been abused along these same lines by numerous Catholic jurisdictions over the past several years, it’s hard to believe it is being used in good faith in Santa Rosa.
SNAP Responds to Jesuits Canada list of Credibly Accused
(For Immediate Release March 13, 2023)
A list of Jesuits who have been "credibly accused" of sexually abusing children from 1950 to the present has been made public by the Jesuits of Canada. According to Fr. Erik Oland, the head of the Jesuit Order in Canada, the list is the outcome of an investigation that started in 2020 and was carried out with the assistance of an independent investigator. All but three of the 27 persons on that list are deceased.
It is difficult for us to believe that an “exhaustive file review” would have shown that only 27 Jesuits were found to be perpetrators. While we do not have a total for the number of Jesuits who worked in Canada during the period of time examined in the investigation, according to the Jesuits of Canada website, by the early 1960s Jesuit numbers were around 1270. In independent governmental investigations around the globe, the rate of abusive clergy has regularly been shown to be close to 10%. Yet the Canadian Jesuits are claiming an abuse rate that is slightly more than 2% of the clerics working in just a portion of the time covered. Such an outlier appears to us to be implausible at best.
Child Victims Act Clears A Hurdle in Maryland; SNAP Applauds Lawmakers
(For Immediate Release March 13, 2023)
In Annapolis, Maryland, the Child Victims Act of 2023 was unanimously approved by the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee this past Friday. This is just a first step; the bill still needs to pass both the House and the full Senate.
We stand in ovation for lawmakers in Maryland who have given the nod for the Child Victims Act to move forward to the Senate floor. Our thanks to Sen. William C. Smith Jr. and Del. C.T. Wilson for putting victims first. We encourage leaders to now bring the bill up for a vote. This bill is an important step in recognizing the realities of childhood sexual abuse. Delayed disclosure is the norm, not the exception, and so amending laws to be more in line with reporting trends allows more survivors to seek justice. This helps to prevent future cases of abuse by getting information about perpetrators and enablers into the hands of police, prosecutors, and the public.
Society is made safer every time a survivor comes forward to share their experience. We are aware that many abusers are still alive and unreported, endangering the communities in which they reside. The Child Victims Act of 2023 will aid in fixing that issue, enabling survivors to come forward and fostering safer, more educated communities.
CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications ([email protected], 267-261-0578) David Lorenz, SNAP Maryland leader ([email protected], 301-906-9161), Becky Ianni, Virginia and DC SNAP leader ([email protected], (703) 801-6044) Zach Hiner, Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009) Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President ([email protected], 814-341-8386)
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
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Notorious Abuser Added to Diocese of Steubenville List, SNAP Calls for Secular Intervention
Years after being removed from active ministry and decades after he was first reported as an abuser, Church officials from the Diocese of Steubenville have finally deigned to add Msgr. Mark Froehlich to their list of "credibly accused" priests. This action - far too little and far too late - is still an important step forward in ensuring parents and the public are able to keep their children and loved ones away from a dangerous serial perpetrator.
SNAP Europe: John Paul II, Still a Saint?
By Marc Artzrouni, SNAP Europe
A documentary broadcast a few days ago on Polish TV shows how John Paul II, then Archbishop Karol Wojtyla of Krakow, protected at least three priests who had sexually abused children in his diocese during the 1960s and 1970s.
SNAP Agrees With Victims Receiving Compensation from Sisters of Charity of St Augustine
(For Immediate Release March 8, 2023)
Most individuals recognize that tens of thousands – if not hundreds of thousands – of boys and girls, have been sexually assaulted by priests and other male clergy. Regrettably, many individuals remain unaware that hundreds or thousands of nuns have also sexually abused children and have done so for decades.
Consider this: who has had greater exposure to Catholic children for as long as Catholic nuns? Who made up the majority of teachers at parochial schools and still do so today? Elizabeth Ann Seton, recognized in the Catholic Church as the first native-born U.S. saint, started the Sisters of Charity, an order that opened separate parochial schools for families of poor and wealthy girls, in the early 1800s. Some consider these the first Catholic parochial schools in the U.S. The Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine have been around since 1850.
The ongoing scandal involving sexual assault in schools committed by ordained or professed religious begs a question that is never satisfactorily addressed: what about the nuns who, at least until the mid-1960s, were significantly more prevalent than priests or religious brothers in classrooms and boarding schools and had power over vulnerable children?
Quiet Arrest of Cathedral Employee has SNAP Calling for Outreach
(For Immediate Release March 7, 2023)
A highly placed lay employee at the Diocese of Oakland’s Cathedral of Christ the Light was arrested by Walnut Creek police on January 6, 2023, on suspicion of possessing and sharing child pornography. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is appalled that, as far as we can determine, no outreach was done in the community or with the public in the ensuing 2 months.
Jeremiah York worked as the assistant to the Rector of the Cathedral. Until he was removed from that position in January, we believe that he may have had access to children at the parish. Hundreds of boys and girls attend the Cathedral's CCD and related programs. York is also a photographer with photo credits showing Oakland Bishop, Michael Barber, performing various rites that included children.
While we are dismayed that an accused child pornographer had a job in the Cathedral, the Bishop's own church, we are worried that his relationship to Bishop Barber and the Cathedral Rector may have given him a perfect cover for accessing children. What good Catholic would suspect that the man who is a friend of the bishop and the assistant to the priest in charge of their church would not be safe to be around boys and girls?