Media Statements

(For Immediate Release May 24, 2022) 

The 288-page bombshell report into abuse and cover-up within the Southern Baptist Convention released this past Sunday may be new to many outside of our space, but for survivors and advocates, this report is really just an affirmation and validation of the truths that survivors of abuse within the SBC have been trying to bring to light for years. The reality is survivors of abuse within Baptist communities have been sounding the alarm for decades. Absent survivors like Christa Brown, Amy Smith, David Pittman, and others, we believe this issue would still be shrouded in darkness, and to that point, every parishioner in the SBC should be grateful for the efforts of survivors who have done more to protect children in these churches than the SBC's leadership themselves.

When the SBC Executive Committee meets today, they should, for the safety of children and the healing of survivors, immediately make public the list of 700+ names of ministers accused of sexual abuse the SBC has secretly kept for years, regardless of how incomplete it may be. There is no reason for this information to stay shrouded in secrecy when it could help protect children today.

In our view, naming potentially dangerous predators beats naming none and encourages others who may have suffered similar harm to come forward and begin their healing journey and help to hold those responsible, accountable. Every individual that is disclosed may prevent one more girl or boy or adult from being sexually violated and traumatized for life.

(For Immediate Release May 24, 2022) 

Adult Survivors Act Passes in New York; SNAP praises the strength of survivors

The Adult Survivors Act has passed in the NY State Assembly, 148-3, and is now headed for Governor Hochul’s signature today. This legislation is a window of time to allow individuals who were 18 or older when they were sexually assaulted in New York State to file a lawsuit against the person who harmed them and/or the negligent institution.

SNAP was honored to be part of an incredible coalition led by Safe Horizon and thrilled to be with survivors and advocates to celebrate the news from New York’s State Assembly. The announcement that the Assembly passed the Adult Survivors Act is a huge victory for survivors’ rights in New York.

To us, there can be no justice without truth. And unless someone rises to tell you the truth, justice will be hard to reach, survivors deserve every ounce of credit for making this possible for adult victims in New York, they are the ones who rose.  

We believe all survivors deserve to have their day in court and hope that other states will follow in New York’s footsteps and work on their own version of this important legislation. We hope that the passage of the ASA will encourage victims of sexual violence, no matter their age or where their abuse occurred, to come forward and seek the justice they deserve. And we hope that those who may have reported in the past but were ignored or fell victim to archaic, predator-friendly laws will find the strength to go through the process one more time to find healing. 

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager ([email protected] 267-261-0578) Zach Hiner, SNAP 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)

(For Immediate Release May 21, 2022) 

The Archbishop of San Francisco, Salvatore Cordileone, announced Friday that the Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, has been barred from receiving communion in his Archdiocese due to her pro-choice stance. This is certainly not the first time that the Archbishop has spoken out publicly against politicians who support abortion rights, yet we cannot help but note that he has yet to publish a list of the clerics who molested boys and girls in his Archdiocese, unlike the majority of his peers.

In banning Speaker Pelosi from the receiving communion, the archbishop opined, "A Catholic legislator who supports procured abortion, after knowing the teaching of the Church, commits a manifestly grave sin which is a cause of most serious scandal to others." We believe the same can be said about Catholic clergy who sexually abuse children, and we wonder if all of them were similarly banned from receiving communion in the Archdiocese? Were the dozen clerics associated with San Francisco who were arrested, charged, indicted, or convicted of child sexual abuse allowed to continue approaching the cup?

In fact, priests accused of serious crimes against children are not only not usually banned from communion, but they also sometimes remain empowered to administer sacraments as well. Is raping a boy or girl not also a "grave sin?" Should Fr. David Ghiorso have been returned to active ministry while the lawsuit against him is still pending?  Should Fr. Daniel Carter have been left in ministry despite having a criminal complaint and a lawsuit filed against him?  Do Catholic prelates who have been complicit in transferring known perpetrators continue to give and take communion?

We find Archbishop Cordileone's position the epitome of hypocrisy. We ask that he refrain from public moralizing until he has done all that he can to make the children who attend his parishes, schools, and other facilities safe and to help those victimized in his Archdiocese heal. This grandstanding on one issue while refusing to come clean about the extent of abuse in his Archdiocese gets us further from that goal, not closer to it.

CONTACT: Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager([email protected], 267-261-0578), Melanie Sakoda, SNAP Survivor Support Coordinator ([email protected], 925-708-6175) Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director ([email protected], 517-974-9009)

For Immediate Release: May 20, 2022

A lawsuit against a prominent Catholic high school in Oklahoma City that was filed by ten current and former students alleges that the school fostered a “rape culture” that has persisted since at least 2011. We applaud these brave students and their parents for coming forward and using their experiences and voices to force a change and create a safer school for future students.

According to the lawsuit, administrators and officials at Mount St. Mary’s Catholic High School have known for more than a decade that rape and sexual assault was rampant at the school, but rather than take action to protect students, those same employees instead worked to keep these incidences hidden to protect the reputation of the school. It is notable to us that the school’s president, vice president, and school counselor all resigned last year when the allegations started to surface. We believe this is a clear sign that there is merit to these allegations and call on police and prosecutors will look deeply into this case to see if any crimes were committed and to mete out justice.

Nationwide, New Zealand, 15 May 2022

It is repugnant to survivors of child sexual abuse to see a term associated with a sex
industry, that implicates helpless and innocent children as if in some way they were
complicit participants in the production of this illicit material.

SNAP Aotearoa National Leader Dr. Christopher Longhurst said today:

“We are calling on all media to adopt terminology, hopefully consistently, across
international lines, that makes it very clear that a heinous and abusive crime has
been committed. Children do not have the legal or moral capacity to consent as
performers in pornography, and the term “child pornography” must not be used.”
Terms such as “child sexual exploitation material,” or where there is no sexual content,
“child exploitation material” are much preferred phrases to describe this sexual abuse,
and other abuse, recorded in any form of multimedia, whether video, audio, still
photograph, or print media."

It is unacceptable to refer to child sexual abuse multimedia as a product, a pornographic
commodity and SNAP Aotearoa calls upon all news media worldwide to adopt a
standard terminology which does not add this despicable label to the already awful
impact for victims of child sexual abuse and exploitation.

Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Aotearoa New Zealand
Email: [email protected]
Phone: New Zealand +64223440496

(For Immediate Release May 19, 2022) 

This legislation is a window of time to allow individuals who were 18 or older when they were sexually assaulted in New York State to file a lawsuit against the person who harmed them and/or the negligent institution.

We are very happy to be part of an incredible coalition led by Safe Horizon and thrilled to celebrate today’s news from New York’s State Assembly. The announcement that the Assembly plans to pass the Adult Survivors Act is a huge victory for survivors’ rights in New York. Brave survivors of sexual abuse poured out their stories, re-visited their trauma, and made time to advocate so a safer world can be lived in, their strength has won. “Safe Horizon is grateful to our coalition and community of survivors, advocates, and lawmakers – especially our bill sponsors and champions in the Legislature, Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins, and– as well as the Speaker of the Assembly, Carl Heastie for making this a reality. We look forward to this momentous vote.”

(For Immediate Release May 19, 2022) 

Springfield Catholic officials must not stay silent while misguided staff, students and parents publicly rally around a coach who's just been suspended after being named in a child abuse report. Every time parishioners rally around an accused child molesting cleric, it is sad, tiresome, and hurtful to vulnerable kids, those wounded, and ultimately to the school, parish, and diocese itself.

Bishop Ed Rice and other school officials must denounce this well-intended but hurtful move.
To those who wonder "Why is there so much abuse in the church," here's a clue: When Catholic officials let church members and others intimidate victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers into silence as abuse reports happen, even more people with information or suspicions about child sex abuse give up, go away or stay quiet. And that of course enables and emboldens other child molesters to keep committing their heinous crimes.

It’s sad because it shows how desperately people want to believe that abuse so close to home isn’t possible and those accused could never commit such heinous crimes. And it’s sad because it shows how little many churchgoers and staffers have 'reformed' their mishandling of child sex abuse in the 30 years since the first US pedophile priest attracted national headlines.

( For Immediate Release May 18, 2022) 

 The Archdiocese of Santa Fe tentatively reached a $121.5 million agreement Tuesday in a bankruptcy case involving at least 375 people who accused priests of sexual abuse. We hope that this process has brought healing to these survivors and call on church officials from Santa Fe to release information to their parishioners and the public regarding abusers and enablers identified throughout the bankruptcy process.

We are grateful to the survivors of sexual abuse from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe who stood up for their rights and for all victims. It is important to note that, while the settlement is justly deserved by those who have suffered decades in silence, in the grand scheme of things it is but a drop in the bucket given the wealth of the church. No amount of money can make up for the lifetime of trauma that results from sexual abuse. Furthermore, we know these tactics are designed to maintain an appearance of help for survivors, and yet it still comes without effective action from church officials.

If church officials in Santa Fe truly want to help survivors and create safer environments within their church, they must be transparent with their communities. They should immediately update their list of abusers to include the new names identified throughout the bankruptcy process and should then use every resource at their disposal to ensure parishioners and parents at each location where an abuser worked have been notified. Similarly, they should be turning over all information regarding sex crimes, regardless of the current status of the abuser, to local law enforcement.

We know that no institution can police itself and so we hope that police and prosecutors in New Mexico are looking long and hard to find creative pathways toward justice for survivors and to prevent more cases of abuse in the future. A critical step in preventing abuse is ensuring that those who covered up and enabled abuse are prosecuted.

 CONTACT: 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 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

(For Immediate Release May, 16, 2022)

A recent news article disclosed that Fr. James Kirby will again be leading a congregation in Iowa. The priest was suspended by the Diocese of Des Moines and Simpson College for "inappropriate conduct" in 2020, after he texted comments about his attraction to a 19-year-old student. Two similar complaints were filed against Fr. Kirby in 2010 and 2019. The cleric worked as the pastor at St. Elizabeth Seton Parish in Carlisle from 2009 until his suspension.  

Beginning in July, Fr. Kirby will be a pastor at St. Mary/Holy Cross parish in Elkhart, Iowa. According to an April, 28, 2022 statement from the Diocese, during his suspension Fr. Kirby "provided sacramental ministry and media-related work for the diocese as needed." We are unclear how a clergyman with at least three accusations of "inappropriate contact" can be returned to ministry at all, but to have him providing "sacramental ministry" before a public announcement seems completely wrong.

SNAP has grave concerns about the ability of Fr. Kirby to be safely involved in parish settings and the community. The Des Moines Diocese preferred to use the phrase "inappropriate conduct" to refer to the accusations. This innocuous terminology may well minimize the gravity of the Fr. Kirby's conduct, and to us demonstrates the desire of the Diocese to avoid the hard questions about the behavior of this priest and to simply move on as if nothing truly disturbing had occurred.

(For Immediate Release May 12, 2022) 

Since our initial statement on the removal of Fr. Benedict Jurchak, SNAP has received a message from Dakota Bateman, who shared her story with The Pillar. She wishes to do more to have Fr. Jurchak removed permanently from ministry and has provided this message to us. We truly believe that without Dakota, this abuse would not have become publicly known. We stand in solidarity with her and with all other victims.

-In 2018 I was sexually assaulted by my spiritual director Fr. Benedict Jurchak. He used his knowledge of my previous sexual abuse, copying how I had been previously assaulted, to make me freeze and unable to fight. In 2018 I told the TOR provincial what happened, and they waited over a year to investigate my allegations and did not hire a canon lawyer to investigate until they were told to do so by the diocese of Altoona-Johnstown. In spite of my accusations being found credible, the TORs have chosen to keep Fr. Benedict Jurchak in ministry, possibly creating more victims. Fr. Benedict Jurchak needs to be removed from all ministries and the TORs need to start taking sexual assault seriously and stop putting their image above the safety of others. Dakota Bateman-

This case is a perfect example of how quickly some dioceses will act when survivors go public after being ignored by Catholic officials. Cardinal Gregory Wilton of the Archdiocese of Washington DC did the correct thing and withdrew Fr. Jurchak's facilities to work in the Cardinal's territory. It is long past time for the Franciscans T.O.R. to do the next right thing and remove this cleric permanently from ministry.  At the very least, the Franciscans should provide information about where Fr. Jurchak is currently living and working.

 We hope that any other victims, witnesses, and whistleblowers will be prodded by the publicity surrounding this concerning situation to come forward so that the truth can be determined, people can be protected, and victims can heal. We encourage anyone with information regarding abuse by those in positions of authority to contact law enforcement directly. You can also report suspected abuse to the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office by calling their clergy abuse hotline at 888-538-8541

CONTACT: Becky Ianni, Virginia SNAP Leader, ([email protected], 703-801-6044) 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 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)