Friday, August 1
7:00 pm SNAP Chicago leaders and Larry Suffredin
Welcome to the SNAP 2014 Annual Conference! Welcome to Chicago!
7:15 pm David Clohessy
Ours is a Milestone, theirs is a Millstone
At this point in his life, David can barely recall where he ate dinner last night. So luckily for all of us, he can't tell old "war stories" all night long. His memory is terrific, however, when it comes to mistakes - his and ours. So he'll offer some "lessons learned" from a long, tough but ultimately encouraging quarter century of hearing survivors' incredible pain and watching their incredible growth.
7:45 pm Jason Berry
Pope Francis and the Clergy Abuse Crisis
Pope Francis has appointed an abuse advisory commission, while the UN is pressuring the Vatican for greater accountability on complicit bishops and cardinals. What are the prospects for genuine reform? What lessons can we draw from the survivors' movement, and what can we expect in the months ahead?
8:15 pm Vincent Warren
The Path to Accountability: All Roads Lead to Rome
Vince’s talk will trace the path of SNAP advocacy from the International Criminal Court to the United Nations in the pursuit of international accountability for the Catholic Church.
8:45 pm Peter Isely
The Trauma of Truth: How 25 Years of SNAP Saying the Unsayable is Changing the Unchangeable
Whenever we survivors symbolize our trauma (or that in the body which actively resists speech), it is a “truth event,” a miracle made out of words. Like trauma, truth creates a crisis, unsettles everything, and interrupts everyday functioning. For 25 years, SNAP has been saying that which was never meant to be said and changing the most unchangeable institution on earth. With our words, we are “traumatizing the traumatizers,” generating an ongoing worldwide religious crisis that is literally disrupting and stopping faith based sexual violence. Where did this trauma of truth come from and where is it now headed?
9:15 pm
Announcements and Details for Saturday
9:30 pm Reception Ice Cream Social – Prairie Room
Hosted by National Survivor Advocates Coalition (NSAC)
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Saturday Aug 2
7:00 am Morning walk, leisure to brisk pace (meet in hotel lobby)
9:00 am Kiera Feldman
In the World but not of it: Abuse in Evangelical Communities
How does Christian purity culture inform abuse? What are the means by which institutions re-victimize survivors? And what does resilience look like? From child sex abuse to sexual assault on campus, this presentation will discuss the long-term impact of trauma and the human consequences of privileging institutions over people.
9:30 am Justice Anne Burke
The Truth Will Set Us Free
Illinois Supreme Court Justice Anne M. Burke believes that redemption for the Roman Catholic Church can only come through the virtue of Truthfulness. After years of investigations into the tragedy of the Church’s failings in keeping our children safe from sexual abuse, is the Church any more transparent now? Justice Burke explores the damage wrought by the absence of truth and encourages the laity to join with the ecclesial leadership to bring about a new era in the Catholic Faith – one based on truthfulness.
10:00 am Garry Wills
Hiding the Infection
The claim that we should just "move on" from the criminal actions of priests and their protectors is a way of poisoning the future. As Hamlet says, it does but "skin and film the ulcerous place / Whilst rank corruption, mining all within / Infects unseen."
10:30 am Break
10:45 am Morning Breakout Sessions
11:45 am Lunch
1:15 pm Jennifer Haselberger
Truth and Reconciliation: An Insider’s Reflections on the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church
In her presentation, Dr. Haselberger will offer her reflections on her ten years’ spent working for Catholic dioceses in the midst of the sexual abuse crisis, including the experiences that led to her resignation in April of 2013. She will offer her thoughts as to what has worked, what hasn’t worked, and how the Catholic Church’s response to clergy sexual misconduct can be improved.
1:45 pm Barbara Blaine
25 Years Later the Vision is the same but the Future Looks Better than Ever
It started with a desire to find healing and to protect others. A quarter century later SNAP continues armed with the same vision yet bolstered by successes of this past year. There are many reasons to hope. Blaine will provide, in a personable manner, the key events this past year in SNAP and outline next steps. She will provide meaningful ways everyone can participate to help bring about the vision of “protecting the vulnerable and healing the wounded.”
2:45 pm Nicky Davis, Marek Lisinski and Juan Carlos Cruz
Multinational Report: Survivors are Making a Difference in Australia, Poland and Chile
3:45 pm Bishop Accountability: Anne Barrett-Doyle and Terry McKiernan
The Year in Review – with New Research on Pope Francis, Bankruptcies, Mandated Reporting, the “It’s History” Debate, and More
Anne and Terry will provide a lively and useful review of the past remarkable year, with thumbnail descriptions of research that will be helpful to you in your work. Topics will include: Pope Francis and global mandated reporting; Milwaukee in the context of church bankruptcies past and future; abuse data and the “it’s history” debate; accused clerics in Chile and Belgium; and getting real about abuse statistics in the US and worldwide.
4:15 pm Break
4:30 pm Afternoon Breakout Session
5:30 pm Dinner
5:30 pm Friends of Bill W Session (Meet in Clark A(CC22A))
8:00 pm Video and Discussion
Philomena
Judy Dench stars in the story of Philomena Lee, mother to a boy conceived out of wedlock and given up for adoption. Nearly 50 years later Philomena meets Martin Sixsmith (Steve Coogan), a former BBC reporter looking for his next big story. Together, they embark on a journey to find her long lost son. As the pieces of the puzzle come together, the unlikely travel companions form a comic and heartwarming friendship.
Viewing followed by open discussion
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Sunday Aug 3
7:00 am Morning walk, leisure to brisk pace (meet in hotel lobby)
9:00 am Boz Tchividjian
Darkness within the Church and the Hopeful Flashes of Light
If the Church professes to know God, why is there so much darkness within it? Why has it failed to protect, pursue, and embrace the precious souls who are trapped and isolated in the dark places? All too often the Church sacrifices the lives of its own as it attempts to preserve and protect its reputation and power. The great tragedy is a Church that hurts, shames, and silences the very lives that God sees as beautiful and infinitely valuable. In all of this darkness, flashes of light are starting to appear. Flashes that are overcoming darkness and bringing forth hope. Who are they and what do they look like?
9:30 am I Made a Difference Awards
9:45 am Pioneer Awards & Layperson of the Year Award
10:45 am Miguel Hurtado Calvo and Pete Saunders
Multinational Panel: Survivors Making a Difference in the United Kingdom, Spain and at the United Nations
11:15 am Michael D’Antonio
Of Shepherds and Sheep -- Justice, Spirituality, and the Sexual Abuse Crisis
Relying on the insights gained through his research and writing of his book Mortal Sins, Michael D'Antonio will examine the changing relationship between the hierarchy of the people who are the church. In Europe, North America and other places the old paradigm of leaders-and-followers, or shepherds and sheep, is being challenged by those who want a more democratic Christianity based on equality and mutual respect. At the forefront of this change are those who have held the church accountability of clergy abuse of children.
11:45 am Evaluation and Send off
12:00 Noon Conference Ends
Click here to print a copy of the schedule.