Media Statements

For Immediate Release: October 27, 2023

In March 2022, Spain's parliament overwhelmingly approved the creation of an independent commission to investigate accusations of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. At a news conference called today to present the findings of that report, the country's national ombudsman estimated that more than 400,000 children have been sexually assaulted in the Catholic Church in Spain since 1940, more than 200,000 by clergy. The commission was also critical of the Church, calling its response to cases of child abuse involving the clergy “insufficient,” and recommended the creation of a state fund to pay reparations to survivors. 

Once again, an independent investigation has examined the response of the Catholic Church to accusations of child sex abuse and found that response woefully inadequate. We believe that this again illustrates that the Catholic abuse scandal, the result of unconscionable decisions made by those in positions of leadership, cannot be resolved within the Church. The Spanish government must step in and not only manage any reparations but also begin regulating the Catholic Church. In fact, every nation in the world should start to assess how it can supervise a religion that has failed to monitor itself, and that apparently values their clergy, its secrets, and its assets over the lives of innocent children. We applaud the brave victims who came forward to share their tragic experiences with the commission. They join a huge network of survivors who are trying to protect others from similar atrocities.

Every week more Catholic priests are arrested or outed as perpetrators. And it seems like every week, we learn that clergy accused of child sexual abuse are allowed to remain in ministry. As investigation after investigation piles up, we see more and more the failure of Church leadership - cardinals, bishops, high-level chancery members -- to protect defenseless boys and girls. The rot appears to go all the way to the top in every diocese and religious order in the world. 

It is long past time for "God's house" to be washed clean.

 

CONTACT: Marc Artzrouni, SNAP Europe, ([email protected], +33 - 6 95 73 65 92), Mike McDonnell, SNAP Interim Executive Director (267-261-0578 [email protected]), Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President  (814-341-8386, [email protected])

(For Immediate Release October 13, 2023) 

SNAP applauds the three brave victims in a new class action lawsuit against the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington DC

(For Immediate Release October 2, 2023) 

A class action lawsuit was filed jointly today by the law firms of Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. and Janet, Janet & Suggs, LLC in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Maryland against the Catholic Archdiocese of Washington DC. These two leading civil litigations firms were able to proceed with this action because the Maryland Child Victims Act went into effect on October 1st.

SNAP is grateful to the attorneys for moving forward with this case, which features the testimonies of three adults abused as children in the Archdiocese. We are in awe of the bravery of these survivors in speaking out and sharing their individual stories, despite having suffered a wide variety of serious physical, emotional, and financial injuries.

The lawsuit accuses the Archdiocese of engaging in a pattern of conduct that permitted Catholic boys and girls in its churches and school to suffer sexual abuse for decades. The Archdiocese has acknowledged having 34 “credibly accused” clergy. Bishop-Accountability.org, the independent watchdog group that has been tracking the Catholic abuse scandal for 20 years, puts the number of abusers in Washington DC at 45.  

Based on our information and experience, we believe that despite the 2002 promise of openness and transparency by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, that much information about these crimes remains hidden. We hope this civil action will help shine a light into those dark places in this Archdiocese.

We also hope that victims who have been suffering alone and in silence will find courage from the stories set forth in the complaint to speak out themselves. There are people who will believe them and support them.

The press release from the law firms can be seen here>>https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/schochor-staton-goldberg-and-cardea-pa-and-janet-janet--suggs-llc-file-class-action-lawsuit-against-archdiocese-of-washington-301944633.html

CONTACT: David Lorenz, SNAP Maryland leader ([email protected], 301-906-9161), Becky Ianni, Virginia and DC SNAP leader ([email protected], (703) 801-6044)  Mike McDonnell, SNAP Interim Executive Director [email protected], 267-261-0578)  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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For immediate release: September 29, 2023

At a press conference yesterday, End Clergy Abuse (ECA) and clergy abuse survivors and advocates representing 25 countries from around the world called on Pope Francis to remove Archbishop Victor Manuel Fernández as head of the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith (DDF) and to rescind his elevation to Cardinal. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, joins our allies at ECA in their call for the Pope to rescind the appointment and elevation of Archbishop Fernández.

Among the responsibilities of the the DDF is the handling of sexual abuse accusations brought against clergy. In fact, this responsibility constitutes 80% of its work. Yet earlier this year, Archbishop  Fernández admitted that he made "mistakes" in handling a 2019 case of a priest accused of sexually abusing children. On this basis, we too urgently call for Pope Francis to replace the Archbishop on the DDF, and to reconsider his selection as Cardinal. 

For Immediate Release: September 28, 2023

On Tuesday, a news article provided the public with additional information about “lost” reports of child sexual abuse made to the Catholic Archdiocese of New Orleans. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by priests, cannot help but wonder how many other complaints are “missing,” and if any of those accused are still in ministry?

The Archdiocese claims that it has no records of reports of child sexual abuse against Deacon Virgil Maxey “VM” Wheeler III, from 2002. According to the article, the mother of Mac McCall told Archbishop Philip Hannan that year that Wheeler had tried to get Mac’s older brother into bed with him during a ski trip to Utah. Knowing that Wheeler wanted to become a Deacon, she also reported to the head of the Archdiocese’s diaconate program at the time, Jim Swiler.

Wheeler, who was ordained in 2018 and died earlier this year, was charged with the rape of Mac and arrested in March of 2021. The Deacon pleaded guilty in December of the following year to a lesser crime, and was sentenced to probation and sex offender registration.

It stretches credulity to believe that the Archdiocese has no record of either the report to Archbishop Hannan or Swiler. Because of this, Wheeler was later allowed to enter the diaconate program and was ordained by the current Archbishop, Gregory Aymond.  We also note that it took two reports to Archbishop Aymond about Wheeler, one in 2018 and the second in 2020, for this dangerous man to finally be removed from ministry.

For immediate release: September 27, 2023

On Tuesday in Texas, Bexar County Sheriff Javier Salazar reported the arrest of a Catholic priest who had worked in numerous parishes in the San Antonio Archdiocese since 2017. The clergyman has been accused of raping a woman in her seventies on multiple occasions. SNAP is grateful for this prosecution, but believes that the cleric's frequent transfers are a major red flag.

Fr. George Mbugua Ndungu, also known as Fr. Wanjiru, has been charged with aggravated sexual assault. According to the Sheriff, an accusation of improper behavior by the priest was first brought to the attention of the Archdiocese by a church employee. In the subsequent Archdiocesan investigation, the elderly parishioner came forward.

While it is encouraging to see law enforcement pursue Catholic clerics who are accused of sexually assaulting adults, we take issue with Sheriff Salazar’s comment that “it is common for priests like Ndungu to be transferred to different churches every so often.” To us, frequent transfers, especially in the short time frame since 2017, are a red flag. We fear the frequent moves may signal other abuse and we encourage law enforcement to visit each of the parishes where Fr. Ndungu was assigned to urge other victims to come forward. Secular investigations in Maryland, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and Michigan showed that Church officials used expedited transfers of known abusers as a way to prevent scandal. In reality, these transfers enabled abusers to gain access to additional victims.

(For Immediate Release September 27, 2023) 

As survivors from across the world converge on Italy to push for widespread reform in how the Catholic hierarchy deals with abuse and cover-up, we are humbled and grateful to be a part of this potentially historic effort. SNAP Board President, Shaun Dougherty will be among those ‘Voices of Justice’ joining our allies at ECA (End Clergy Abuse) in the week-long events.

It is alarming to us that this papal synod will evidently not address the church's most serious ongoing crisis: child-molesting clergy and their enabling superiors. Every time Catholic officials convene without addressing this ongoing crisis explicitly, they embolden clergy who deny, minimize, neglect, and conceal this devastating scandal. Too frequently, church officials miss out on crucial chances to make the church and society safer and healthier. In doing so, they perpetuate the harmful myth that most of the wrongdoing has occurred in the past. This results in irresponsible and insensitive complacency, which places at risk innocent children and vulnerable adults.

Pope Francis said he wants an 'authentic' synod, not just a meeting 'to project a good image of ourselves.' As we see it, how can any church event, especially one of this magnitude, be truly 'authentic' without addressing the enormous elephant in the room: the sexual violation of the vulnerable and the cover-up of these violations by the church hierarchy?