MD--Supporters to leaflet at Catholic Community at Relay

Supporters to leaflet at Catholic Catholic Community at Relay

They challenge pope to demote bishops

SNAP: “Church officials refuse to do aggressive outreach”

So group asks parishioners to “search for wounded survivors”

“Post names of proven predators on church websites,” victims say

What:

On the cusp of Pope Francis’ first-ever visit to the US, as parishioners enter mass, abuse victims will hand out fliers urging church goers. The leaflets list the names of 66 publicly accused child molesting child molesting Catholic clerics in the Archdiocese of Baltimore, and urges the local bishop to

--disclose the names of other proven, admitted or credibly accused predators, and

--post all church predators’ names on his diocesan website and in church bulletins (like 30 US bishops have done).

The fliers also urge Catholic church members to

--question loved ones about these child molesting clerics (“Did any of these clerics ever hurt you?”) and

--prod anyone who has “seen, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes of cover ups to call law enforcement.”   

WHEN

Sunday, Sept. 13 at 9:10 a.m. for 9:30 Mass.

WHERE

On the sidewalk outside the Catholic Community at Relay, 5029 Cedar Avenue, Relay, MD 21227

WHO

A support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org).

WHY

While Catholic officials pretend that the on-going clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis is waning, thousands of proven, admitted and credibly accused predator priests are living among unsuspecting neighbors with little or no supervision. (Several hundred are on sex offender registries but most are not. And most have not been defrocked.)

Some, in fact, are still in church jobs:

http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/09/10/pope-francis-remove-the-usas-predator-priests/

For the safety of parishioners, SNAP wants Pope Francis to “defrock, demote or discipline” bishops who continue to “protect predators and endanger kids,” especially by keeping names of child molesting clerics secret.

For more than 25 years, SNAP has repeatedly urged bishops to “aggressively seek out and help” the thousands of victims “still trapped in silence, shame and self-blame.” But bishops refuse to do anything but the most minimal moves, the group contends.

So now, SNAP is prodding rank-and-file Catholics to take this step. Specifically, the organization is asking parishioners to circulate lists of publicly accused predator priests in their dioceses and ask loved ones if any of them were hurt by any of the priests.

SNAP also wants church-goers to push bishops to post these names on church websites. More than two dozen prelates have done this:

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

According to BishopAccountability.org (an independent on-line archive of the church abuse and cover up crisis), the publicly accused child molesting clerics in this diocese are:

1.    William Steven Albaugh

2.    James Avant

3.    Michael Lowell Barnes

4.    Thomas J. Bauerfeind

5.    Thomes R. Bevan

6.    Maurice J. Blackwell

7.    Louis A. Bonacci

8.    Frederick C. Brinkmann

9.    Gerard Bugge

10.  John Carney

11.  Douglas Carroll

12.  Brian Cox

13.  Fernando Cristancho

14.  Robert Cullen

15.  John Danilak

16.  Richard Deakin

17.  Alfred Dean

18.  Donald Dimitroff

19.  James Dowdy

20.  John H. Duggan

21.  Frederick H. Duke

22.  Kenneth Farabaugh

23.  Joseph P Gallagher

24.  Joseph Gerg

25.  Steven R. Girard

26.  Marion Francis Helowicz

27.  Robert F. Hopkins

28.  Paul Knapp

29.  Michael Kolodziej

30.  William Earl “Jay” Krouse, IV

31.  Joseph Kruse

32.  Thom Kuhl

33.  Xavier Langan

34.  Ross A. LaPorta

35.  Thomas B. Lee

36.  Francis J. Lefevre

37.  Robert F. Lentz

38.  John L. Lippold

39.  Anthony Lorento

40.  George B. Loskarn

41.  Ronald Mardag

42.  A. Joseph Maskell

43.  Arthur Maurer

44.  Francis McGrath

45.  Ronald N. Michaud

46.  John Joseph Mike, Jr.

47.  Timonthy Murphy

48.  James Glenn Murray

49.  Robert Victor Newman

50.  Henry O’Toole

51.  Brian Keith Olkowski

52.  Thomas Rochacewicz

53.  Chalres O. Rouse

54.  Thomas Rydzewski

55.  William Q. Simms

56.  David G. Smith

57.  Richard E. Smith

58.  Thomas W. Smith

59.  Michael J. Spillane

60.  Edmund F. Stroup

61.  Francis Sweeney

62.  Jerome “Jeff” F. Toohey

63.  James J. Toulas

64.  Gerald Tragesser

65.  William C. Wehrie

66.  John Wielebski

Contact:

Frank Dingle 410-744-2398, [email protected]

David Clohessy 314 566 9790, [email protected],