KY- Victims want bishop's help
Victims want bishop's help
"Warn flock about predator," they plead
And kick him out of your diocese, group says
Kentucky priest is accused of molesting 4 kids
Yet he is not being supervised and still does "ministry"
WHAT
Holding signs and childhood photos, clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will urge Lexington’s Catholic bishop to
--warn his flock about a predator priest,
--personally visit nearby parishes this weekend,
--aggressively seek out anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered the cleric’s crimes, and
--pressure other Catholic officials to put the pedophile in a secure treatment facility.
WHEN
Friday, May 10, at 11:00 a.m.
WHO
Two members of a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a Cincinnati man who heads the organization’s Ohio chapter
WHERE
Outside the Lexington Catholic diocese headquarters, 1310 W. Main St. (corner of Forbes) in Lexington
WHY
Late last month, the Chicago Tribune reported that a Chicago area priest, suspended for sexually abusing Illinois boys, still lives and works - unsupervised - in a remote area of eastern Kentucky. The cleric – Fr. Carroll Howlin – has also molested two Kentucky boys, one of whom committed suicide.
In 2002, Howlin, then 67, pastored Good Shepherd Chapel in Whitley City in McCreary County. He was put on administrative leave when abuse reports against him surfaced that year, according to a statement yesterday from the Catholic Diocese of Lexington. (One man says he reported Fr. Howlin’s crimes to Catholic officials in 1993, however.)
Despite his suspension, however, the Tribune reports that Howlin’s supervisors in both the Lexington and the Joliet Catholic diocese have basically ignored him. The Vatican has reportedly “sentenced” Fr. Howlin to a lifetime of "prayer and penance" and banned him from unsupervised contact with minor. But the Tribune found that “he serves as his own minder here in rural Kentucky. The choice of whether to follow the Vatican's restrictions involving ministry or being alone with children remains entirely up to him.”
And Joliet Catholic officials let their parishes collect money for Howlin’s alleged “ministry” to the poor (even after a Joliet pastor warned church officials that Fr. Howlin was putting church donations in his personal bank account). Fr. Howlin, according to the Tribune, allegedly used money to garner sexual favors from impoverished boys. (Fr. Howlin gets a $1,100/month pension.)
So in theory and in public, SNAP says, Catholic officials have purportedly ordered Fr. Howlin to stay away from kids. In reality, the Tribune article reveals, they’re doing nothing to make sure this happens.
SNAP believes Fr. Howlin should be put in a remote, independent treatment center far from Kentucky and Illinois.
SNAP suspects that there may be more victims of Fr. Howlin who are “trapped in silence, shame and self blame.” SNAP also worries that there are more predator priests living in other dioceses - perhaps dozens of them – who are, like Fr. Howlin, not monitored or supervise and live/work among families who are unaware of the danger they present. (According to BishopAccountability.org, eight Lexington diocesan priests are proven, admitted or credibly accused child molesters.)
SNAP wants Lexington’s Bishop Ronald William Gainer to disclose where other pedophile priests are living and move them to secure sex offender treatment and housing facilities.
SNAP also wants Bishop Gainer to aggressively reach out – using parish bulletins, diocesan website, pulpit announcements and personal visits - to anyone who saw, suspects, or suffered crimes by Fr. Howlin (or any other Catholic official) to come forward and report to police.
Gainer should, SNAP says, go to every parish where Fr. Howlin worked (and/or every parish nearby), begging victims to come forward. He should give every shred of paper he has about Fr. Howlin to law enforcement, in Illinois and Kentucky, SNAP asserts.
Fr. Howlin, while officially on temporary suspension, remains a priest on the Joliet diocese payroll.
When Fr. Howlin was suspended, he declined to comment but denounced news coverage of the church sex abuse and cover up scandal.
The Tribune based its article on thousands of pages of long-secret church records recently disclosed thanks to civil child sex abuse lawsuits in the Joliet Diocese.
SNAP is an independent, Chicago-based non-profit self-help group for those molested in institutional settings, whether secular or religious. It’s been around since 1988 and has 12,000 members worldwide.
CONTACT
Dan Frondorf of Cincinnati, 513-706-7403, [email protected], David Clohessy of St. Louis 314-566-9790, [email protected]
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