Another Lawsuit Filed Against the Diocese of Pittsburgh
A new child sexual abuse and cover-up lawsuit has been filed against church officials in Pittsburgh. We applaud the brave survivor for coming forward and call on church officials to do immediate outreach.
According to the lawsuit, the victim in this case was abused by three different priests from the Diocese of Pittsburgh. The only priest named directly in the lawsuit is Fr. Edward Maliszewski; the other two abusive priests were known to the victim only as “Father” and allegedly abused him while the victim was at Woodville State Hospital and New Castle Youth Development Center.
Making matters worse, the lawsuit also alleges that church ofificals in Pittsburgh have “repeatedly refused to provide the names of priests” who may have been the other abusers. This flies in the face of church officials’ repeated promises to be open and transparent when it comes to cases of child sexual abuse. If church officials truly cared about survivors and prevention, they would be working extra hard to uncover who those other priests were, not staunchly ignoring the allegations against them.
We call on Bishop David Zubik to personally visit each parish where Maliszewski worked and urge others who may have seen or suffered his abuse to come forward. We also call on them to use every resource at their disposal to share the information from this lawsuit, encourage others to come forward to police, and help bring other still silent victims forward.
CONTACT: Judy Jones, SNAP Midwest Regional Leader, (636-433-2511, [email protected]), Zach Hiner, Executive Director (517-974-9009, [email protected])
(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
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