Media Statements

Archbishop Edwin F. O'Brien has promoted by Pope Benedict. We feel that to reward O’Brien rubs salt into the wounds of clergy sex abuse victims.

Thanks to relentless pressure, and almost a decade after the first bishop posted the first list of pedophile priests, O'Malley belatedly and begrudgingly is making it a little easier for police, parishioners and the public to know who most of the Boston predator priests are.

No one should feel sorry for Burlington Catholic diocesan officials. If its leaders had shown more interest in accountability, transparency, and the safety of all parishioners, it wouldn't be in the position of owing milllions of dollars today.

Bishop Boyce’s shameless comments are a carefully calculated, pre-emptive strike by a bishop who is disingenuously posturing as a victim.

We wholeheartedly endorse two important calls made in Ireland today.

We agree with the call made by ONE IN FOUR that Magee hold an open news conference, and take questions about his role in concealing child sex crimes. Out of respect for those he so severely and repeatedly betrayed, that’s the very least Magee should do.

August 23, 2011

Bishop Thomas Tobin
Diocese of Providence
One Cathedral Square
Providence, RI 02903

Dear Bishop Tobin:

We belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org) Our mission is to heal the wounded and protect the vulnerable.

Our hearts go out to Cardelli’s victim. Cardelli’s strict prison sentence may offer her some small degree of healing, but unfortunately recovering from this sort of devastation can take a lifetime.

Whatever became of all those pledges by Driscoll and his brother bishops to be “open” about clergy sexual misdeeds? This kind of continuing secrecy violates the promises Catholic officials have made over and over again for the past decade.

Anything that Magee does now is meaningless. For decades, he was a powerful figure in the church hierarchy in Rome and in Ireland. Instead of using his considerable power to protect kids, he used it to endanger kids.

If Catholic officials will deceive people about child sex crimes, they’ll surely deceive people about wealth.