GA – Survivors want hidden predators exposed

Victims of clergy sexual abuse will leaflet Atlanta Cathedral, asking parishioners to urge the Archdiocese to release the names of all those accused of hurting children

The Archdiocese of Santa Fe recently took this important step, and one of those on the New Mexico list was found to be working with children

The survivors’ group SNAP believes that Georgia children will be safer when the Archdiocese of Atlanta publicizes its list

WHAT

Clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will hand out flyers to parishioners asking them to urge Atlanta Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory to reveal on his website the names of all those in his archdiocese who have been accused of abusing children. The leaflets ask church-goers to join the advocates in pressing the archbishop to take this important step.

WHEN
Sunday, October 22nd, 11:00 AM

WHERE
Outside the Cathedral of Christ the King, 2699 Peachtree Road NW (between E. Wesley Road NE and Peachtree Way NE) in Atlanta 

WHO
Victims of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters who are members of a support group called SNAP  (SNAPnetwork.org), including the group’s Managing Director

WHY

The Catholic bishops in the United States have reported receiving allegations of abuse by 6,528 priests alone from 1950 to 2015. However, BishopAccountability, the watchdog group independently documenting the abuse crisis, has found public records for only 4,220 clergy, nuns, brothers and seminarians.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/data.htm

The more than 2,000 “hidden predators” who have not yet been publicly revealed pose a potential danger to not only Catholic children, but to all young people. SNAP believes those responsible for children should know who all the accused are in order to better protect them.

Survivors and their supporters will be leafletting outside the Atlanta cathedral today to enlist the support of parishioners in urging Archbishop Wilton D. Gregory to stop hiding the names of the accused, and to join other American dioceses and religious institutes in publishing a list on the archdiocesan website.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/diocesan_and_order_lists.htm

Just last month the Archdiocese of Santa Fe entered the ranks of those who list the accused on diocesan websites. One of the names on that list was a former Franciscan Brother who had been accused of abusing students at an Indian school 40 years earlier. There are no known complaints against the man other than the two from his tenure as a Franciscan Brother. However, he apparently had access to members of a vulnerable population until the employer learned of the allegations and the former brother tendered his resignation.

http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/news/native-health-staffer-out-after-sex-abuse-allegations-surface-9735102

Unless and until the Archdiocese of Atlanta reveals their list, SNAP fears that the “hidden predators” it is shielding may also have access to children. The survivors’ group is leafletting church-goers to urge them to help them protect children by putting pressure on the archbishop to publish his list of names.

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 25,000 members. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

CONTACT
Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP Managing Director (314-503-0003, [email protected]),  Joelle Casteix 949-322-7434, [email protected] or Melanie Sakoda 925-708-6175 [email protected]