Media Statements

• Defrocked minister to lead retreat in Georgia
• In 1999 he admitted abusing boy at a retreat in Texas
• Now, he’s set to lead a retreat in Augusta this weekend
• And church officials are refusing to warn retreat-goers
• Self help group is urging Episcopal bishop to ‘take action’
  

In a new, rare and stunning interview, former NYC Archbishop Edward Egan made shocking statements about the church’s on-going clergy sex abuse and cover up crisis.  

We are clergy sex abuse victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Our mission is to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

We are here today about two child predators – Brother Louis Meinhardt and Brother John Woulfe. Woulfe has been publicly exposed before. Meinhardt has not. Both are Marianists.

Protecting child requires swift and decisive action. Adults who prey on children thrive on delays and "internal investigations." In fact, we have seen time and time again how child predators continue to molest in institutional settings, even after their supervisors have suspicions, knowledge and evidence of crimes.

We applaud Cameron Greer for courageously reporting the abuse he says he suffered at the hands of his pastor. We are grateful he’s taking legal action to protect others and we are impressed by the courage he’s showing by discussing his experiences publicly. Abuse and cover up happen over and over again because many church members can’t summon the strength to speak out and because many church officials can’t summon the courage to disclosed crimes. Greer should be commended for acting responsibly to expose wrongdoing and safeguard others.

Yesterday, SD lawmakers refused to support a bill that would have made kids safer from child sexual predators. Shame on them.

We are grateful that jurors will hear more evidence, not less evidence, of cover ups by Philadelphia Catholic officials. For far too long, the church hierarchy has split hairs, parsed words, exploited technicalities kept victims, parishioners and even prosecutors isolated and removed from “the big picture.”

How many meetings will it take for Rome to learn that child sex abuse is a crime, predators must be made public and jailed, and church officials who cover up for molesters must be held accountable?

Besides jail, two things keep kids safe from child predators - publicly exposing predators and deterring others from concealing their crimes. There's no better way to do this than by reforming archaic, arbitrary, predator-friendly laws like the statute of limitations.

We’re disappointed that Fr. Matt Bartulica has been so quickly restored to his job despite allegations of sexual misconduct or abuse. How thorough could an alleged church “investigation” be if it just took a couple of weeks?