NJ- Victims blast Newark pastor
For immediate release: Monday, March 3, 2014
Statement by Mark Crawford, New Jersey director of SNAP (732-632-7687, [email protected])
A Newark Catholic pastor is telling his flock that “the media is our devil." We believe Fr. Peter Palmisano should be disciplined for this hurtful remark.
Fr. Palmisano, who heads Our Lady of Mount Virgin Church in Garfield, didn't make this awful statement “off the cuff.” He wrote this in his Feb. 28 parish bulletin.
It's harmful when Catholic officials publicly attack those who expose clergy sex crimes and cover ups – whether they are victims, police, attorneys or journalists - because they deter others from exposing clergy sex crimes and cover ups. (Maybe this was Fr. Palmisano's intent. We don't know. But regardless of his motives, the impact is the same – it discourages victims, witnesses, whistleblowers, and advocates from protecting kids by exposing criminals.)
Fr. Palmisano is free to think journalists are devils. He should not be free, however, to use a parish bulletin to spread his venom. Archbishop John Myers should publicly punish him for his irresponsible and mean-spirited behavior. Otherwise, Myers' is sanctioning irresponsible and mean-spirited behavior and basically encouraging other church officials to follow Fr. Palmisano's lead.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 15,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Mark Crawford (732-632-7687, [email protected])
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 5 comments
Sadly, it takes many of us victims years to face the abuse, see it for what it is, and not blame ourselves, especially when these crimes were commuted by those held in such high esteem. Anger is almost putting it lightly! Rage against these criminals better frames the feelings we have to channel to get the SOL removed!
Hubris (/ˈhjuːbrɪs/, also hybris, from ancient Greek ὕβρις), means extreme pride or self-confidence. Hubris often indicates a loss of contact with reality and an overestimation of one’s own competence, accomplishments or capabilities, especially when the person exhibiting it is in a position of power
H is for Hypocrisy
U is for Unctuous
B is for Belligerent
R is for Reprehensible
I is for Intractable
S is for Salacious
Michael Skiendzielewski
Captain (Retired)
Philadelphia Police Dept.
In the United States, I think we need to start and successfully get signed petitions in all 50 states that would call for legislation on both state and national levels, to abolish the statute of limitations on all crimes committed by any and all pedophiles; including but not limited to all catholic hierarchies of catholic church leaders and catholic employees. I think we have to start this now, in 2014. I think members should call upon the attorneys who are members of SNAP and CCR, who we already know are sympathetic to this cause and are already representing victims in the current judicial system to write petitions to serve this purpose.
I also think that the reason pope francis did not ordain any cardinals from the United States, last month, is precisely because he knows that for the most part, the American catholic priests, bishops and cardinals have already been “found out”, and they are not as likely to keep lying and willingly abet the pedophiles in their midst.