Media Statements

The Catholic Diocese of Belleville is getting a new bishop following the retirement of their current prelate. We hope that Belleville’s leader elect will usher in a new era of transparency and openness, but we are skeptical that this will actually happen.

Two more men have come forward to allege that they were abused by Australia’s highest-ranking Catholic official. This story is a reminder of the challenges that survivors face and is a call-to-action for us to address those challenges in order to create a culture that supports survivors instead of demonizing them when they bring claims forward.

With 14 years of courageous reporting on Baptist clergy sex abuse and church cover-ups, journalist Bob Allen made a difference in the lives of countless survivors and helped to make church kids throughout the country safer. In response to the announcement of his retirement on March 31, SNAP can only say “thank you.”

In February, the Diocese of Richmond quietly announced a compensation program for survivors. Their program has an incredibly short registration window, barely lasting two months. Now, in light of coronavirus concerns that have paralyzed a nation, we are calling on Catholic officials in Richmond to extend the deadline for their compensation program and make efforts to ensure that survivors of clergy abuse are aware of the program’s existence.

One of Pennsylvania’s Catholic dioceses is suspending its compensation program for the next 90 days because of stock market concerns caused by the coronavirus. This is a hurtful and deceitful move that clearly shows that the best pathway for survivors to get justice is through the court system and not church-run programs.

Now that allegations against a former priest from the Diocese of St. Augustine have been found credible, church officials must use every tool at their disposal to share the information with their parishioners and do outreach to still-silent victims, encouraging them to come forward and file a complaint with police.

Despite much fanfare and applause surrounding Pope Francis’ recent “reforms” to handle cases of abuse or cover-up by bishops, a court-appointed official in Minnesota reports that the Church is not following its own rules in dealing with an accused former Archbishop. We are not surprised by this announcement and believe this is yet another example of why outside, secular investigations are needed in order to police Catholic officials.

A Catholic priest accused of sexual abuse in a lawsuit by a young seminarian was recently given the honor of flying in a plane above the Diocese of Camden in order to spread prayers from the air for all those affected by the coronavirus. We can only wonder why, out of all the priests in the Diocese, a man who has been accused of sexual abuse was the one chosen.

The second highest ranking official in the Catholic Diocese of Buffalo has been placed on leave following accusations of sexual abuse. Given how scandal-ridden the Buffalo area was under former Bishop Richard Malone’s tenure, we are not surprised by this development. Once again, it seems to us that intervention from outside, secular law enforcement is definitely in order

Two nuns are suing the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America (GOA) forsexual harassment and cover-up. In 2017 the sisters reported years of abuse by a high ranking priest.