by: Marc Artzrouni - SNAP Europe 

Part 2: Reflections on the Independent Commission Findings

In our first article on sexual abuse in the French Catholic Church we reported on the ongoing work done by the Independent Commission on Sexual Abuse in the Church (CIASE in French).  The CIASE was commissioned by the French Conference of Bishops and is headed by Jean-Marc Sauvé, a retired senior civil servant.   

The Commission is composed of respected professionals: jurists, psychologists, health professionals, theologians, etc.  Their 500-page final report was released on October 5 and the main findings have reverberated around the world.  The Commission has documented the cases of 2,900 to 3,200 priests who have abused  216,000 minors and vulnerable people since the 1950s. (The figure is 320,000 if you add "lay" perpetrators who teach, coach, or advise within Catholic institutions).

These numbers have sent shockwaves through French society - with a headline in Le Monde (the French equivalent of The New York Times) that reads: "Pedocriminality: a damning report for the Church."   Note how to its credit Le Monde (and other French media)  has replaced "pedophilia" with a word that leaves no doubt: a "liking" of children that is acted upon is a crime.   

This profile was written by Patrick Price, Fundraising and Development Manager of SNAP, to honor our courageous and dedicated supporters and donors.

At the age of 90, Helen Kock reminisces about her long healing journey after having been sexually abused by priest as an 8^th-grade student at a Catholic school in Minnesota. Born into a German farm family in Minnesota, and as the eldest daughter, her family assumed Helen would one day enter a convent, as was the practice during that era. After all, her uncle, the eldest son of his family, had become a Franciscan priest. Helen found this potential life path to be very appealing.

Unfortunately, when Helen was just 13 years of age, a young parish priest, whom she felt was a kind and caring man in her life, manipulated her into having sexual intercourse with him. Haunted by shame and guilt, Helen never spoke of the incident to her family, friends or teachers, leaving her feeling isolated. Eventually, when some of the other Franciscan parish priests learned of the incident, the young priest was re-assigned a year later to another parish. This was done secretively primarily to avoid confrontation with Helen’s uncle, who had by then become an influential Franciscan priest. Sadly, though, no clergy member ever approached Helen to acknowledge what had happened or offered to provide her help. So, Helen’s “secret” remained a painful memory for many years.

Survivors endorse Kerry Robinson for new Vatican Ambassador

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VjY4SrfhAY

Robinson has insisted that survivors must be a part of "all deliberations, solutions, and plans" to address the ongoing abuse crisis in the United States.

A new report found a disturbing pattern of child sexual abuse in 38 religious organizations in England and Wales - a scope that goes beyond previous similar findings concerning the Anglican and Catholic churches.

This profile was written by Patrick Price, Fundraising and Development Manager of SNAP, to honor our courageous and dedicated supporters and donors.

Former Catholic nun and school teacher, now wife and mother of two, Susan Vance has served as a dedicated and outspoken advocate and supporter of those who have been sexually abused by priests and bishops for almost 20 years. Her work began in 2002 when the Boston clergy sexual abuse scandal was reported and got critical attention from media and the public. While working as a school teacher, Susan realized that the situation in Knoxville, Tennessee, was as dire as that in Boston. Anthony J. O’Connell, previously a bishop in Tennessee, but reassigned as a bishop in Palm Beach, Florida, was accused of sexual abuse against two teenaged seminarians while he was head of the Hannibal, Missouri, Seminary. To make matters worse, the local Family Life Center in Oak Ridge had been named after Bishop O’Connell in 1998 when he left for Palm Beach.

This profile was written by Patrick Price, Fundraising and Development Manager of SNAP, to honor our courageous and dedicated supporters and donors.

David’s journey through self-healing and self-acceptance was, as he says, “evolutionary, not revolutionary.” So, for him, the feelings of guilt and self-recrimination associated with his sexual abuse by Catholic church authorities took a long time to process and heal. At the age of sixteen, David was sexually abused by his guidance counselor at his all-boys Catholic high school in Kentucky during prayer meetings and other events the counselor held at his home. Though his abuser was transferred by the church to a variety of schools, David struggled for many years to admit that he had been abused and struggled with his feelings of shame and loneliness.

For at least 57 years, from 1947 to 2004, the Boy Scouts of America kept “Ineligible Volunteer Files” – better known as “Perversion Files” – on sexual predators in their midst.  The BSA LLC released some of these files in 2012, pursuant to an order from the Oregon Supreme Court.  In January 2013 the Los Angeles Times published a database of 5,431 “Perversion Files” – a few of which are duplications.

The below-linked article, "IDENTIFYING AS A SURVIVOR And Not as a Victim of Abuse," was written by Bailey Brown, a recent journalism graduate of Texas State University who now works for the Burleson County Tribune.

In this, Bailey's latest piece to be shared on our website, she interviews SNAP Leader Patricia Cahill. We think that you will find it powerful and informative. The article starts on page 7 of this link.

We are grateful to Bailey for covering this important topic and for allowing us to host her articles. You can read Bailey’s other pieces here and here.