June 17, 2006

An Open Letter To The Next Presiding Officer of the
Episcopal Church USA

We are men and women who have been sexually assaulted by clergy. For 17 years, we have tirelessly worked to heal the wounded and protect the vulnerable, largely in the Catholic church. We want to help.

SNAP is sometimes perceived as an advocacy group or an activist group. That is a small part of what we do. (For many of us, our recovery also involves working to stop abuse in the future.) But primarily we are a self-help group and a support group, doing all we can to enable abuse victims and their families (adult and children, male and female, Catholic and Protestant) recover from the trauma they've suffered.

Specifically, we want to help you, the incoming presiding bishop, to improve both child abuse prevention and response efforts within your denomination. We believe the Episcopal hierarchy can do more to reach out and minister to those who've already been hurt and to make your churches safer and healthier for those who haven't been hurt.

We beg you to sit down with us and see what we can do, collectively and pro-actively.

Obviously, the Catholic clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis is widespread, long-standing, and on-going. While no one thinks that a scandal of that magnitude will happen any other denomination, this not the time to be complacent. In fact, it means just the reverse -- this is the time for vigilance. This is the time to learn from, not repeat, the devastating mistakes of others.

We're not suggesting that clergy sex crimes and cover ups are rampant within the Episcopal Church. But we are suggesting that these horrors are no doubt more common among your peers than any of us would like to believe.

We've heard many assumptions and explanations about why there is perhaps less clergy sexual misconduct in your church -- no celibacy, less secrecy, more democracy, women clergy, more lay involvement.

But we repeat -- now is the time for vigilance, not complacency. Even one act of abuse by a clergyperson -- of an innocent child or a vulnerable adult -- is terribly harmful to everyone involved. And we remind you that predators always have and always will seek out positions of power over and access to the vulnerable (like the ministry).

In addition, adults usually believe and side with the accused, over the accuser. Decision-makers are usually tempted to focus on secrecy and self-preservation. An organization's members will usually opt for secrecy over openness, especially when the subject is so painful and embarrassing. These are the inevitable dynamics of abuse and cover up. No faith group is immune to them.

For decades, Catholics assumed a great deal: that priests didn't molest, that those who did were aberrations, that many allegations were false, that cases were handled sensitively and appropriately. Over the past four years, those assumptions have been proven wrong, and at a great cost to everyone involved. Again, we beg you to learn from, not mimic, the mistakes made by so many in the Catholic hierarchy.

In the long run, we are offering to work with the Episcopalian hierarchy toward stopping abuse on the front end and healing abuse on the back end.

For 17 years, we have listened to and helped survivors and their loved ones describe and cope with not just clergy sex offenses, but also with remarkably insensitive and sometimes hostile treatment by church officials. We have also met with police, prosecutors, lawmakers and church officials in several denominations. Our organization has a great deal of insight and experience we can share with you.

We've read your policies. We know you've had policies in place for years, and those policies seem sound (on paper). But we also know t hat Catholic bishops have likewise had policies in place for years and those policies likewise seem sound (on paper). Policies don't protect kids, however, action protects kids. And action requires both vigilance and courage. We want to help you and your colleagues maintain the vigilance and find the courage to both safeguard the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

Specifically, we'd like your denomination to take the lead in training members about reacting appropriately when abuse allegations surface. In several recent cases, local Episcopal clergy and parishioners have responded in very inappropriate and hurtful ways when accusations of sexual misconduct have been made. Their words and deeds have made it far more difficult for others who experienced, witnessed or suspected the abuse to speak up. With careful guidance and training, we are confident such harmful behaviors will diminish.

In the short term, however, we urge you to start making your church safer and healthier by launching a thorough and independent investigation into the Bishop William Swing-Father John Bennison controversy. It's possible this is an aberration, but we suspect not. In any case, we are convinced that much can be learned by a serious examination into how and why this tragic situation was (and is still being) severely mishandled.

An admitted child molester, who also engaged in other sexually misconduct with adults, minors and parishioners, was allowed to remain in active ministry for years. He stepped down only recently, and apparently only because of public pressure.

The brave abuse victims who brought forward Father Bennison's misdeeds were excoriated by Bishop Swing and others, while those who knew about and didn't warn many about Father Bennison's misconduct have not been accountable. Even now, it's not clear whether any official church action is even being considered against either man.

Congratulations on your selection as presiding bishop. We know your plate seems full. We know your church faces some terribly divisive issues right now. We are certain you already feel overwhelmed at the challenges you face.

But keep in mind that the Catholic sex crisis seemingly came out of nowhere. Many bishops were, and are, still reeling from it. Remember that all it took was one judge's ruling in Massachusetts that opened up thousands of pages of deeply-held secret church files on predators. After that, deeply-held secrets began to trickle out, then pour out. One by one, courageous victims began speaking out. Soon, what seemed like isolated instances developed into a full-scale catastrophe.

We now know, sadly, that much of these very deep and still fresh wounds could have been prevented.

So we humbly beg you to make some time for the most vulnerable among you -- innocent Episcopalian children and vulnerable Episcopalian adults - and address sexual abuse more forthrightly, inclusively and effectively than your Catholic brethren are doing.

Barbara Blaine
President, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
PO Box 6416
Chicago IL 60680
312 399 4747,
SNAPblaine@hotmail.com

David Clohessy
National Director, SNAP
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
7234 Arsenal Street
St. Louis MO 63143
314 566 9790 cell, 314 645 5915
SNAPclohessy@aol.com