MN - Catholic panels re-victimizes girl; SNAP responds

(NOTE – the Review Board is a different panel than the Task Force named last week. The Review Board makes recommendations to Nienstedt about accused priests. The Task Force will make recommendations to Nienstedt about abuse policies.)

Notice how this young woman describes her experiences with archdiocesan staff, according to Minnesota Public Radio:

Before the case went before the clergy review board, Sawyer and other church officials asked her to tell her story over and over again, she said. At first, she agreed, but it soon became overwhelming, she said. "For me to just say I was abused by Michael Keating wasn't enough," she said.

She decided to make video for the archdiocese so she wouldn't have to keep telling her story.

At a meeting in the chancery — the headquarters of the archdiocese — in June 2006, she said, Keating watched the video with her family, Flynn, McDonough, Eisenzimmer and Sawyer, she said.

"I'm not sure what the point of the meeting was," she said.

Sawyer, the victims' advocate, told her that the clergy review board would investigate her claims and determine whether she had been abused. The woman, then in her early 20s, was called to testify before the board. Sawyer allowed her to bring one family member for support.

The review board included at least one priest, a psychologist, and an architect, among others, she said. It didn't make sense, she thought.

Board members lobbed questions as though it were a game of pinball, she said.

No detail escaped scrutiny. Someone asked whether Keating's penis was erect when he touched her. "I was like, does it matter?" she said.

She left the review board meeting with a familiar, terrible ache. "I felt like I was traumatized again by that," she said. "I just felt numb."

"It felt like a betrayal times two," she said. "First time, I'm betrayed by Keating, and then I'm betrayed by the archdiocese."

This kind of callousness is one reason we urge victims to report to law enforcement officials, not church officials. It’s heart-breaking to think about how hard this was on the victim.

We challenge these board members, chosen by Nienstedt, who hide behind anonymity, to have the decency to step up and explain their hurtful actions.

And we beg anyone else who may be suffering - because of crimes of Fr. Keating or betrayal by church officials – to reach out for help.

Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Bob Schwiderski (952 471 3422, [email protected])