Media Statements

For Immediate Release: October 3, 2024

This week, a federal judge denied the Wisconsin Attorney General’s request to review the Milwaukee Archdiocese’s sealed bankruptcy records as part of an investigation into child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church . SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is saddened by this ruling, which in our view does not make the protection of children the priority.

Attorney General Josh Kaul argued in his request that the sealed claims meant that some abusers could have gotten away with their crimes, and that some survivors never got the justice they deserved. We agree wholeheartedly with AG Kaul, and we hope that, if he is able, he will appeal this short-sighted ruling.

In response to the decision, the attorney for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee said that, “Judge [G. Michael] reasserts the bankruptcy court’s finding at the time that because the abuse happened so long ago in the 1950s-70s, there are no longer any public safety concerns."

Sadly, it is simply not true that those who abuse boys and girls cease to become a threat as they age. In fact, child predators very rarely stop without outside intervention. This ruling may very well mean that today’s children could be harmed by some of these unidentified men and women.

The Archdiocesan attorney also asserted that a review of the records “would have been devastating to abuse survivors who see this case as closed, and want their claim kept under seal by the court.” We are incredulous that the Catholic Church purports to speak on behalf of those victimized. Most, if not all, only suffered life-long injuries because of decisions made by that entity.

In fact, in our experience, most survivors come forward because they do not want another child to experience what happened to them. We suspect that most, if not all, would welcome seeing their abusers held accountable for their crimes.

For Immediate Release: October 2, 2024

On Monday, the Catholic bishop of Vermont filed for bankruptcy in the face of 31 lawsuits for child sexual abuse. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is concerned that by employing this legal tactic, the Diocese will avoid accountability for past actions that resulted in life-long injuries to innocent boys and girls.

In fact, we suspect that the real motive behind the decision is to prevent disclosures about what happened to these brave survivors as children, as well as the knowledge that the Diocese could have prevented that harm in most, if not all, the cases. As the cherry on top for Bishop McDermott, a bankruptcy will also mean that the recoveries to the victims will be severely reduced.

For Immediate Release: October 2, 2024 

Last week the Catholic Diocese of Rockville Centre reached a settlement with 600 survivors of child sexual abuse. The Diocese agreed to pay $320 million in compensation.

SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is grateful to the survivors who stood up for their rights and for all victims. We hope that this process will bring some measure of healing those who came forward.

The bankruptcy case was begun in 2020 and it has taken 4 years to reach an agreement. Rockville Centre initially only offered $200 million, which was rejected by the survivors. In 2004, the Diocese was among the 10 largest in the United States.

However, it is important to note that, while the settlement is justly deserved by those who have suffered decades in silence, no amount of money can make up for the lifetime of trauma that results from child sexual abuse.  Moreover, in the grand scheme of things, the money is but a drop in the bucket given the great wealth of the Catholic Church. Still, we suspect that after all the time between the filing of their lawsuits and the conclusion of the bankruptcy, most will simply be happy that their claims are finally resolved and try to move forward. 

New York SNAP Leader Mary McKenna puts it this way, “The amount of money each survivor will receive is always less than they deserve. The awards in the Rockville Centre bishop’s reconciliation program run by Cardinal Timothy Dolan were similar, and survivors got that money right away. Moreover, it was reported in Newsday yesterday that the Bay Shore school district settled with 5 victims: one received $4.5 million and the other 4 $3.5 million each!!! The Catholic Church got off easy!!! I just hope this little bit of money will help some survivors get what they need. But I can’t help but feel that overall the Catholic Church has failed victims once again.”

In one bright spot in the whole situation, Long Island SNAP Leader Janet Klinger noted that for years prior to the bankruptcy she fought for the release of a list of accused priests in the Diocese of Rockville Centre, but without success. However, the names were finally released in 2021 as part of the federal proceedings.

We hope that the Diocese will continue to update their list as new reports of abuse are made to them. However, we know that no institution can, or should, police itself. We hope that law enforcement and legislators in New York are looking long and hard to find new pathways to provide justice for survivors and to prevent more children from being harmed in the future. It seems to us that one critical step is to change the law to ensure that covering up and enabling abuse is itself prosecuted as a serious crime. Those who fail to protect innocent boys and girls, like the perpetrators, should also face time behind bars.

New Zealand’s Catholic Church leaders, Bishop Stephen Lowe, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference, and Rev. Tom Rouse, president of the Congregational Leaders Conference, have renewed what they called a “sincere and unconditional apology” for the tragedy of abuse in their church.

However, the abused in New Zealand’s Catholic Church remain without personal apologies while their complaints result in no admissions of wrongdoing, as Lowe and Rouse disregard their own safeguarding principles and procedures.

For Immediate Release: September 26, 2024 

In June, Louisiana’s Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of a state law that allows child sexual abuse victims to sue for their assaults, despite an appeal by the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette. Yet last week, another Catholic organization challenged the constitutionality of the statute, this time in federal court. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, hopes that this latest attempt to keep the perpetrators of child sexual crimes and their enablers concealed will again fail.

The new federal lawsuit was filed by the Dominican Sisters of Peace. The nuns are represented by Denechaud and Denechaud, a law firm that has represented Catholic institutions in Louisiana courts for more than a century. Another of the law firm’s clients is the Archdiocese of New Orleans. The Archdiocese has filed for bankruptcy in the wake of lawsuits filed under this statute. We hope that this legal maneuver, like the previous one, will also be denied.

When Louisiana’s legislature enacted the look-back window in 2021, eliminating the statutes of limitation that prevented survivor access to the courts, the Louisiana Catholic Bishops' Conference was the only institution that opposed the law’s passage. Without this legislation, countless child abusers will remain hidden, leaving today's boys and girls in harm's way. This does not just include Catholic clergy, brothers and sisters, but also religious leaders from other faiths, coaches, counselors, teachers, and others in positions of power and authority over children.

Moreover, the institutions that knew about and protected these dangerous men and women will have no incentive to change the policies and practices that allowed their cover-ups, which exposed countless innocent children to unnecessary harm.

9/19/24

Dear Bishop McKnight:

Once again, brave victims of predator priests are stepping forward, instead of continuing to suffer in shame, silence and self-blame. And once again, your response is bureaucratic and legalistic, instead of helpful and pastoral.

As you well know, you have repeatedly promised to be 'open and transparent' about abuses and cover ups. (In fact, 'transparency' about abuse is a requirement of the official US Bishops Conference national abuse policy.)

But it's been a week now since five brave survivors have accused four or five of your priests of child sex crimes and adult sexual misconduct in a court filing.

For the past seven days, despite your ‘transparency’ pledge, you have refused to revealed anything about these alleged predators, including

--which (if any) of the four or five clerics is alive and which are deceased

--which (if any) still works in a parish

--which (if any) works now for another Catholic entity

--where any or all of the still-living ones are now

--their last known whereabouts

--where they worked in your diocese

--when and where they were ordained

--whether any of them have been defrocked

--whether there have been earlier reports of abuse against any of all them

Do you believe that parents, parishioners, prosecutors, police and the public have no right to this information? If so, how does that square with your duty to be ‘open and transparent’ about abuse?

For Immediate Release: September 11, 2024 

On September 18, 2024, the North Carolina Supreme Court will hold hearings concerning the constitutionality of the state's civil window for survivors of child sexual abuse. SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, urges the Supreme Court to uphold the look-back legislation.

The SAFE Child Act was unanimously adopted by state legislators on October 31, 2019. It allowed victims of child sexual abuse to file lawsuits in 2020 and 2021 against their perpetrators and the organizations who employed them.

Delayed disclosure of child sexual abuse is the rule. Some trauma-informed experts say more survivors disclose between the ages of 50-70 compared to any other age group. When archaic laws limiting victims’ access to the courts are overturned or even lifted for a time, communities are safer. Knowledge about who the hidden predators and their enablers are not only helps to safeguard today’s children, the exposure of perpetrator names can also be the first step to healing for those still suffering alone and in silence. 

Many of those who initiated litigation in the state have waited for decades to expose their abusers, as well as the groups that protected them. We hope that the North Carolina Supreme Court will not dash their hope for justice and accountability.  We also hope that the Court will take into account the value of innocent lives that might be spared the life-long consequences of child sexual abuse if they uphold the window.

CONTACT:  Carol Yeager, North Carolina SNAP ([email protected]), Sue Bailey, North Carolina SNAP ([email protected], 315-657-3446), Charles Bailey, North Carolina SNAP ([email protected], 315-657-5073), Melanie Sakoda, Survivor Support Director ([email protected], 925-708-6175), Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board President ([email protected], 814-341-8386)

(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)

For Immediate Release:

After declaring bankruptcy three years ago due to abuse lawsuits, The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich has announced a plan for moving forward.

The diocese announced that it’s filing a joint Chapter 11 Reorganization Plan, in agreement with The Association of Parishes of The Roman Catholic Diocese of Norwich and the Catholic Mutual Relief Society of America. The plan includes a $30 million trust for survivors of clerical abuse… https://www.bishop-accountability.org/2024/09/diocese-of-norwich-to-file-chapter-11-plan/

From Connetitcutt to California,  the same page is being used by Catholic bishops. Minimize and cover-up child sex crimes, investigate to assess liability. All while keeping abusers in ministry. Then, fight against changes to the statute of limitations which would expose those crimes. Finally, when secular laws provide a window to justice, church officials go to federal bankruptcy courts and pretend that they are out of money

We can’t help but think of how many victims have yet to step forward. 20 years is a short time for reporting abuse as young person, and we are likely to be hearing from Norwich victims for another 20 to 30 years as most typically need until age 50 and above to come forward.

 CONTACT:  Gail Howard, SNAP Connecticut ([email protected], 203-644-0387), Melanie Sakoda, SNAP Survivor Support Director ([email protected], 925-708-6175), Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Director ([email protected], 267-261-0578),  Shaun Dougherty, SNAP Board of Directors President ([email protected], 814- 341-8386)

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

The letter was published on the SNAP Oceania website and it is reprinted below.

Dear Pope Francis,

 

Welcome to our region of Oceania.  

 

You will be aware that your church’s leaders in New Zealand, Australia, Britain, and the United States moved child sexual predators from within your church into poor and vulnerable countries in Oceania where they continued to abuse helpless and innocent children.

 

Such countries included Timor Leste, Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Kiribati, and Samoa, to name a few.

 

This has now been substantiated by court documents, state inquiries, and the media.

 

Apart from apologies to the public from you and only some bishops worldwide, there has still not been redress for the victims, or even personal apologies to them.  They and their families continue to suffer.

 

While your church is decentralised in dioceses around the world, your global corporation, The Holy See, operates on the shores of all these countries in a matrix of mutual relationships with the countries’ leaders.

 

Why do you not tax your local dioceses and your Holy See to pay compensation to the victims and their families?

 

This would make your Church more just and your words more credible than simply offering apologies.

 

As you know, perhaps better than anyone else in the world, in order for anyone to take your apologies seriously, your words need to be backed up with actions.

 

Sincerely,

 

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in Oceania

• Felix Fremlin for Fiji and the Pacific Islands

• Christopher Longhurst for Aotearoa New Zealand

• Donald McLeish for Australia

 

7 September 2024

For Immediate Release- September 6, 2024 

After recently receiving a “credible” report of molestation of a child over several years beginning in the late-1970s, the Diocese of Scranton has removed a longtime priest who served at numerous churches in the region, the diocese announced Thursday.

On Aug. 22, the diocese became aware of “a report of inappropriate sexual contact by Father John Ruth with a minor occurring from the late 1970s to the mid-1980s,” according to the announcement. The dioceses listed his prior assignments, without time frames, as follows:

• Pastor, Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary Parish, Jermyn
• Senior priest, Saint Patrick Parish, Scranton

We loudly applaud the brave survivor who reported the abuse, We know that the average age for a child sex abuse victim to come forward is 52, so it is not surprising that this survivor is just speaking out now. We would expect many of the civil suits to be filed due to secular investigations that include victims from the 1970s and 1980s. ‘Any internal investigation is simply a way for dioceses to assess liabilities and minimize accountability’, said Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Director.

It is troubling to us that Ruth most likely worked in parishes for decades, and even more troubling that the diocese will not disclose all information. We hope others who may have been harmed step forward.

Previous unknown abusers are being exposed, and today's children are safer because of that exposure. We urge Diocesan officials to immediately add Fr. Ruth to their list of accused priests and to include the full work history of his long career.

 CONTACT:  Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager ([email protected], 267-261-0578), 

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 35 years. We have more than 30,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)