Rome diary, part 2

Another beautiful and sunny day in Rome. Everyone tells us we are lucky as rain is normal this time of year. We are trying to cover as much ground as possible and often split up. 

This morning David stayed at the hotel doing an interview with Reuters TV while I headed to the square. The journalists gather near the entrance to Paul IV Hall where the cardinals are holding their General Conference. We pass out business cards to the journalists and give them a brief description of who SNAP is and what we hope to accomplish. It works remarkably well! I did an interview with a print journalist from Columbia and one with a group who spoke little English. They asked questions in their native language and I delivered our message that those that protect predators should not be allowed into the conclave. No idea if the answer matched the question. but the message got out there.

In the afternoon we held a press event naming six cardinals, all over 80 and cannot vote, but are attending the general conference who we feel should be asked to leave or leave on their own because of the part they have played in the cover-up. Our message was these men by their behavior should not be using their influence to help pick a new pope. We had reporters from NPR, Ireland, the BBC, CBS, NBC, Brazil and Italy.

On our way home we met a Brazilian journalist who was thrilled to interview David and wished us luck. As I write this David is doing another interview. we also did an interview with CNN and Boston radio.

As you can see our days are long but very productive. We are so lucky to be here and have a chance to help people understand the scope of the abuse crisis and the cover-up. We keep stressing this is not a problem of the past. There are dangerous predators out there right now and kids are at risk.

There are less journalist here from the developing countries but we watch for them as we fear those children are extremely vulnerable as their countries have less wealth, fewer civil protections and we fear have become a dumping ground for predators who become too "hot" in their own countries.

Thank you to everyone who has made it possible for us to be here, it is greatly appreciated! while we may not be able to change the outcome of who will be elected Pope we do feel our being here has reached survivors around the world and offered them some hope and it has helped to educate people about abuse and the cover-up.