MN- National bishops group should censure Nienstedt, SNAP says

For immediate release: Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])

America's bishops meet tomorrow in New Orleans. We urge officers and members of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to censure - or at least harshly denounce - current and former Twin Cities bishops for the ongoing horrific cover up scandal there, especially Archbishop John Nienstedt, retired Archbishop Harry Flynn, and Archbishop Robert Carlson (who now heads the St. Louis archdiocese). 

In recent depositions

--Flynn claimed he couldn’t recall details about predator priests 132 times, 

--Carlson claimed he didn’t remember 193 times, and

--Nienstedt admitted that he never took any action against those who enabled child sex crimes and he doesn’t believe he should.

These revelations, under oath, speak volumes about how top Catholic officials are still dealing with the child sexual abuse scandal – through continued cover-ups and deceit.

Every promise made over the last 12 years by every US Catholic official - about children’s safety, and openness, transparency, and “zero tolerance” - rings hollow when prelates gather, year after year, and stay silent about their complicit colleagues.

Bishops who conceal child sex crimes are virtually never punished, either in the church or in the secular courts. So at a bare minimum, they should be denounced in public, especially by their colleagues, if there's ever going to be a chance at real reform of the church hierarchy.

At recent USCCB meetings, every single bishop kept quiet after Bishop Robert Finn was convicted of hiding child sex crimes. We beg America’s bishops to find some courage tomorrow and not make the same mistake by ignoring the on-going crimes and cover ups by Nienstedt, Flynn, Carlson and others who are protecting or have protected Twin Cities predator priests and are endangering or have endangered Twin Cities children.

(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 18,000 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 (314-503-0003 cell, [email protected]), Frank Meuers of Plymouth (952-334-5180, [email protected])