MN- Court says church depositions must happen, victims respond
For immediate release: Wednesday, March 05, 2014
Statement by Frank Meuers of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (952-334-5180, [email protected])
A Minnesota appeals court has ruled against Twin Cities Catholic officials who want to further delay the deposition of top church staffers in a clergy sex abuse and cover up case. We are grateful this brave victim has moved a step closer to learning the truth about how Archbishop John Nienstedt and Fr. Kevin McDonough may have ignored or concealed heinous child sex crimes.
Judge Van de North's decisions in the case, we feel, have been very reasonable. But of course the church hierarchy continues to exploit every possible avenue to keep their cover ups covered up. (It's ironic that while this happens, Pope Francis is claiming the church is "transparent" on clergy sex crimes)
We hope this ruling will prod others who were assaulted by clergy into stepping forward, seeking justice, protecting kids and exposing cover ups.
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. We’ve been around for 25 years and have more than 15,000 members. Despite the word “priest” in our title, we have members who were molested by religious figures of all denominations, including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant ministers. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)
Contact - David Clohessy (314-566-9790 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Dorris (314-862-7688 home, 314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]) Bob Schwiderski of Wayzata (952-471-3422, [email protected]), Frank Meuers of Plymouth (952-334-5180, [email protected])
Showing 2 comments
It fits in well with the Pope’s directive of transparency and accountability. Who knows, maybe there will be a conflict in scheduling and you may be asked to come in a day earlier than your April 2 scheduled deposition. Sounds good, doesn’t it?