MO - Catholic archbishop admits 115 St. Louis church staff accused of abuse
For immediate release: Friday, Jan. 3, 2014
For more information: David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP Director (314) 566-9790 cell,[email protected]
Catholic archbishop admits 115 St. Louis church staff accused of abuse
Revelation comes in a new court filing that church officials wanted to be kept secret
A legal document filed late yesterday by the St. Louis Catholic archdiocese reveals that 115 church employees have been accused of child sexual abuse.
Lawyers Archbishop Robert Carlson asked that the document be kept secret. But a Missouri appeals court disagreed. It is available on CaseNet. (ED 100882) and on the SNAP website:
Doc 1 - See pages 188 - 194
This is more than double the number of previously known predators in the archdiocese. Leaders of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, believe the real number of predatory priests, nuns, seminarians, brothers, and other church employees is substantially higher.
“On a well-documented and widely-respected website called BishopAccountability.org, there are 52 names of local child molesting clerics,” said SNAP’s Barbara Dorris. “So Carlson is hiding more predators than have been exposed over decades of disclosures. In other words, local parents and parishioners know fewer than half of the proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics than the archdiocese does.”
“For the safety of kids, Carlson should post on church websites the names, photos, whereabouts and work histories of every last one of these individuals, starting with those who are alive and have never been ‘outed’ before,” said David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP’s director. “.”
The figure comes in an appeal sought by Carlson to delay having to turn over predators’ names to attorneys representing a 20 year old woman who says she was repeatedly molested by Fr. Joseph D. Ross at St. Cronan’s parish in St. Louis city.
The plaintiff’s attorney is Ken Chackes of St. Louis.
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
Showing 2 comments
I dont know about hou folks but I am beyond sick of hearing complaining about how bad it is from people that still drop money in the collection baskets. Get back to the God and Christ within and abandon these parasites that ruin, absolutely ruin lives and spread their hate… The exact opposite of what Christ was about. We are talking about children being raped here by grown men and women. Please take a few moments and do the right thing, get organized and put these sick evil minions behind bars. You better believe I am proud of my tax dollars going in that direction… Not for someone who had a bag of pot and they are now behind bars doing 20 years when these rapists are out on the streets in a few months to a year???
Read about Monsignor Lynn and his release after being found guilty of shuffling known pedo priests for years. He did one year… If you arent angry, you are asleep!