Media Statements

A newly filed lawsuit from New Jersey alleges that disgraced Cardinal Theodore McCarrick ran a “sex ring” from his beach house on the Jersey Shore and names five additional priests who were involved in this criminal conspiracy. We applaud this brave survivor for coming forward and sharing this information with parishioners and the public. We are confident that abuse will be prevented thanks to these disclosures.

A teacher who has been accused of abusing at least two high school students during his four years at Presentation High School is now being investigated by the school where he was most recently employed. We hope that victims and witnesses are encouraged to come forward and share any knowledge they may have with police and prosecutors.

SNAP New Orleans supports the five John Doe plaintiffs who allege that they were abused by Monsignor Kenneth R. Morvant between 1972 and 1982 while he worked as a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Lafayette. The cleric died in 2003. These survivors are suing the current bishop of Lafayette, J. Douglas Deshotels, Archbishop Gregory M. Aymond of New Orleans, and the Vatican for neglecting to protect boys in the Diocese from the monsignor. 

An priest from the Catholic Diocese of Oakland who today was due in court on charges of misdemeanor sexual battery skipped his arraignment and a warrant has been issued for his arrest. This is the second priest from the Bay Area to flee from justice after being arrested for sex crimes in the past two years and we urge the FBI and Homeland Security to get involved in this case.

Church officials in San Jose have vowed to investigate following a damning report that exposed years of sexual abuse and cover-up at a local Catholic school. We are concerned that organizational rot may have put students at every single school in the Diocese of San Jose at risk and call on the California Attorney General to investigate.

Three new allegations have been made against a Missouri Catholic priest who was first named as an abuser in April.

We are very grateful to the survivors who have come forward to accuse Fr. Varghese “George”  Alengadan of sexual assault and harassment. We also want to thank Alameda County DA Nancy O'Malley and her staff for investigating the allegations and filing charges. We believe that the only way to clean up the Catholic Church is for secular authorities to lead the charge.

A Catholic diocese in Illinois is getting a new bishop. We hope that this incoming prelate will make the protection of children and the vulnerable his highest priority and we suggest two immediate steps he can take when he is formally installed as bishop.

We are disappointed by the lack of initiative on the part of the Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis to include and prominently place contact information for state and local law enforcement, Child Protective Services, and the Office of the Attorney General of Indiana in its abuse-reporting protocols and on its diocesan and parishes’ Web sites.

A new manual on how to handle cases of clergy abuse has been released by Vatican officials that contains no-brainer requirements that church officials report abuse allegations to police, but without any sort of teeth to enforce this requirement. Once again, we see “reform” from the Vatican that is anything but.