Australia--Victims urge Pope to suspend Pell
For immediate release: Wednesday, Oct. 26, 2016
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, 314 645 5915 home, [email protected])
We renew our plea to Pope Francis: for the safety of kids, suspend Cardinal George Pell, pending the outcome of the police investigation into charges that he may have sexually violated as many as ten youngsters.
We are grateful that the investigation into Pell’s alleged crimes continues. We urge police to move quickly but thoroughly. It’s encouraging that law enforcement officials sent three officers to Rome to question Pell.
Over a year, more than a dozen cops and say they’ve found five or ten alleged victims of Pope Francis’ top aide. That’s pretty credible and serious. Again, for the safety of the vulnerable, the pontiff should temporarily oust Pell.
Our hearts ache for every Australian girl and boy who were hurt first by child molesting clerics and again by callous church officials. We also ache for millions of betrayed Australian Catholics. But we ache most of all for those who were assaulted as youngsters and were brave as adults reporting their pain to Pell and his underlings, only to be rebuffed, disbelieved and mistreated again.
No matter what lawmakers or church officials do or don’t do, we urge every single person who saw, suspected or suffered child sex crimes and cover ups in Catholic churches or institutions to protect kids by calling police, get help by calling therapists, expose wrongdoers by calling attorneys, and be comforted by calling support groups like ours. This is how kids will be safer, adults will recover, criminals will be prosecuted, cover ups will be deterred and the truth will surface.
http://www.snapnetwork.org/rome_victims_urge_pope_to_suspend_pell
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 20,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])
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