MEDIA ADVISORY: SNAP Press event in Rome on Tuesday March 25

(Rome, Italy) - The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) will hold a press conference in Rome on Tuesday, March 25th at 11:00am to release a letter from clergy abuse survivors to Pope Francis. The letter conveys survivors’ urgent appeals to the pope in light of his declining health and the looming transition in church leadership.

At the same time, SNAP will announce the first results of its new Conclave Watch initiative—a global vetting process examining the records of potential papal candidates on clergy sexual abuse and their commitment to zero tolerance. As part of the Conclave Watch initiative, survivors will present several complaints made under the pope’s Vos estis lux mundi decree against prominent cardinals in positions of oversight and leadership of the church’s management of clergy sexual abuse.

WHEN: Tuesday, March 25, 11:00am 

WHERE: Hotel Antico Palazzo Rospigliosi, Via Liberiana 22, Rome, Italy

WHAT: A press conference of clergy abuse survivors and advocates of SNAP speaking about a letter delivered to Pope Francis and a new initiative to vet potential papal candidates on their abuse records and statements

WHY: “While it is understandable to feel sympathy for Pope Francis during this difficult time, we must not overlook his tragic failures concerning abuse," says Shaun Dougherty, president of SNAP. "Many of the cardinals the pope has empowered have covered up sexual abuse in their roles of management and oversight of abuse claims. Survivors are disturbed to see these men being discussed as candidates for the next papacy.”

For the first time since Pope Francis' recent health crisis, SNAP has sent a message to the pontiff. The group is alarmed by reports suggesting that he still plans to issue a papal exhortation addressing children while still rejecting legally binding protections for them under the church’s law. 

In a letter that will be personally delivered to Francis by Juan Carlos Cruz—a survivor, member of the papal commission on abuse, and personal advisor to the pope—the survivors caution that such an exhortation could misleadingly suggest that canon law already mandates the removal of abusive priests. In reality, they emphasize that bishops cover-up sexual abuse and transfer offenders with impunity, except in rare instances where public scandal forces reluctant papal intervention.

SNAP president Shaun Dougherty (L) and Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors member Juan Carlos Cruz (R) holding the letter from survivors to Pope Francis

SNAP’s Conclave Watch is the first initiative by any organization to assess and evaluate papal candidates on their record regarding abuse cases using publicly available records as well as evidence from victims and church whistleblowers around the globe.

During the announcement, the group will discuss eight cardinals, all of whom have held significant positions of management and oversight of sexual abuse claims, whose records on abuse warrant investigation under the pope’s Vos estis lux mundi criteria currently established by the Vatican to discipline bishops. SNAP is filing and carefully tracking the complaints to demonstrate the insufficiency of Vos estis to hold bishops accountable.

The second criterion the group will use to evaluate the candidates is a canonical legislative framework for global zero tolerance, developed last year following a collaboration with the Institute for Anthropology: Interdisciplinary Studies on Human Dignity and Care (IADC) at the Pontifical Gregorian University in which leading canon lawyers, human rights legal experts, and survivors formed a consensus around an endorsement of sweeping changes to Catholic Church law, policy, and practice including: permanent removal from ministry for any cleric found to have abused a child or vulnerable adult; the creation of an independent agency with authority to conduct investigations and issue public recommendations and reports; mandated transparency throughout the process; and severe penalties for any bishop or Catholic Church official who fails to abide by this policy.

READ THE ZERO TOLERANCE LAW AND ANALYSIS HERE.

“Unlike the previous three popes, including Francis,” says Peter Isely, chair of SNAP’s Global Policy Working Group, “it won’t be beneficial to discover that the next pope has a history of covering up sex crimes after he is elected. We must do everything we can to ensure that the next pope has not sheltered abusive clergy and that he endorses a universal and binding zero tolerance reform in canon law.”

SNAP is urging survivors, advocates, and whistleblowers around the world to contact the organization with testimony, documents, and evidence of cover-up by cardinals.

CONTACT: Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President ([email protected], +1-814-341-8386), Peter Isely, SNAP Global Policy Working Group ([email protected], +1-414-429-7259), Sarah Pearson, SNAP Media and Communications ([email protected], +1-414-366-5403)

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for more than 35 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)