Sexual misconduct scandals remind clergy victims of abuse
Associated Press, Dec 23, 2017, Crux
PORTLAND, Oregon - When stories of sexual misconduct by powerful men began to fill the news this fall, Manny Vega immediately flashed back to his childhood.
He saw strong similarities between the recent allegations against producers and politicians and his own abuse as a child by his parish priest.
“The parallels are in the power dynamics,” said Vega, a former police officer and decorated Marine who lives in Oxnard, California. “Whether you’re the leader of a church or the leader of a film studio, you’re going to be someone people look up to and someone people go to for guidance. It puts the victim at a horrible disadvantage.”
While there are key differences, the sexual harassment detailed in today’s headlines shares the same well-worn themes that made it so hard for Vega and hundreds of other clergy abuse victims to come forward . . .
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 3 comments
I expect some sexual misconduct from weak men who call themselves Christians. I might even expect some sexual misconduct from a few bad apple priests and bishops. I would expect that the other good apples would quickly discipline the culprits and make an example of them so as to clean house and restore confidence in their church. I-like many other survivors- felt the most shock and suffered the most (not so much from the actual abuse itself) from the way that the entire Roman Catholic church-up to its highest leaders-covered up the abuse, lied about it, and then did nothing to punish the sexual molester priests. Did I mention that they felt absolutely no moral obligation to help the survivors? These are not Christians and This is not Christianity! Yet millions of people worship these church leaders as if they were god. It was also the most shock to find that not a single bishop was punished or removed from office for protecting sexual molester priests. It is also shocking to me that the hundreds of millions of Roman Catholics continue believe that the sexual abuse scandal was ‘no big deal’ and continue to support these sexual pervert leaders. Stories of sexual misconduct by godless, lawless people does not surprise me. That a church of over one billion people should be lead by a group of sexual perverts in Rome and nobody seems to be able to bring justice to these wolves in shepards’ clothing-that is shocking, truly sad, so difficult to think about everyday-that is why people become drug addicts or commit suicide.