Newly discovered evidence shows Pope moved slowly with offender

‘Scandal’ fear prompted now-NY archbishop to finally act on admitted predator

Asked in 2003 about child molesting cleric, Ratzinger waited 5 months to respond

Even then, it took Vatican 1.5 years to permanently oust a diagnosed pedophile priest

Boston-based research group is releasing 200 more pages of long-secret records about him

SNAP calls on Benedict and Dolan to apologize and explain their ‘secrecy and recklessness’

WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will
---discuss a newly-released 2003 letter from NY’s archbishop to the Pope about an admitted pedophile priest, and
---disclose that 200 more pages about him are being posted on line today.

The victims will harshly blast NY’s archbishop and the Pope for
---essentially doing nothing to warn the public about the serial predator, and
---moving slowly to defrock him.

And they will call on both prelates to explain and apologize for their delays and secrecy.

WHEN
Wednesday, March 2 at 2:30 p.m.

WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the New York archdiocesan chancery office, 1011 First Ave (between 55th & 56th) in Manhattan

WHO
Three-five clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Chicago woman who is the organization’s long time president

WHY
Today, a Boston-based research group is posting on line 200 hundred pages of long-secret church records about an admitted and officially-diagnosed serial predator priest, Fr. Franklyn W. Becker. A 2003 letter shows that then-Milwaukee Archbishop Timothy Dolan (now of NY) waited nine months before taking action against Becker.

The documents also show that then-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict) delayed more than 1.5 years before officially defrocking Becker. Finally, the records reveal that Dolan kept quiet for two more years about Becker having been defrocked.

Neither prelate, as best SNAP can tell, took any effective action to warn parents or protect kids from the priest.

The 2003 letter shows that Dolan is afraid of “scandal” and writing only because Becker had been arrested in California. Frustrated at how the archdiocese was treating him, in 2005, Becker threatened to “contact the press” with “all that (he) knows.” A Dolan underling wrote “I told him that he knew he wasn’t going to do this (and) that the press wouldn’t give him insurance nor would they even give him much of a check for the information for a story.”

Records show that during Dolan’s tenure, the church gave Becker $10,000 and that he was getting roughly $25,000 each year, even after having been suspended, plus medical and dental coverage.

Church officials got the first report of abuse by Becker in 1963. Twenty years later, they learned he was diagnosed as a pedophile. Still, they let him work in parishes around kids until 2002.

Becker has faced at least three civil child sex abuse and cover up lawsuits. He worked in the San Diego area, in Wheeling WV (1975) and at St. Louis University (1976) .He is believed to be living in the southeastern Wisconsin town of Mayville.

Dolan was named Archbishop of Milwaukee in June 2002, named Archbishop of New York in February 2009 and was installed in New York in April 2009.

Becker’s victims are represented by Minnesota attorneys Jeff Anderson (651 227 9990, 612 817 8665 cell) and Mike Finnegan (651 227 9990, 612 205 5531 cell, mike@andersonadvocates.com).

SNAP is holding a similar event in Milwaukee today.

CONTACT
Barbara Blaine 312 399 4747, SNAPblaine@gmail.com, David Clohessy 314 566 9790 cell, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, Barbara Dorris 314 503 0003 cell, SNAPdorris@gmail.com, Peter Isely 414 429 7259