MO--Archbishop does interviews in KC; SNAP responds
Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003 cell, [email protected])
The new head of the Kansas City MO Catholic diocese, in his first interviews since taking the reins is talking about fundraising, low-balling expectations, and equating the suffering of abuse victims and church staff.
http://kcur.org/post/archbishop-joseph-naumann-looks-heal-raise-funds-kansas-city-st-joseph-diocese
He’s got it all backwards. Job one is protecting kids. Fundraising and healing can and should come later.
And when children are safer, fundraising and healing will happen on their own.
At this juncture, it’s unseemly for Naumann to try and woo betrayed donors.
Naumann says there are wounds “on both sides.” That of course minimizes the pain of boys and girls who were raped and sodomized by priests and betrayed by bishops. This isn’t a battle between combatants of equal power, skills and resources. This is a long horror of child sex crimes and cover ups. Whatever hurt adult Catholic employees may feel, it pales beside the trauma of deeply-wounded victims of heinous childhood sexual violence.
Here’s what Naumann should be doing now:
http://www.snapnetwork.org/mo_new_head_of_kc_diocese_should_act_on_2_priests
(SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world’s oldest and largest support group for clergy abuse victims. SNAP was founded in 1988 and has more than 22,000 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])
Winter Appeal 2023
To our friends,
2023 has been a long year with many ups and downs for us all. As we close out the year, we at SNAP hope that you are feeling like you are on your way to being healthy, fulfilled, and happy. This past year has brought both successes and challenges. Thanks to the support you have shown in the past, we’ve been able to celebrate the good days and weather the stormy ones. Now, we are once again asking for your support as we work to support survivors new and old as we ‘Move SNAP Forward.’
At SNAP we are proud to have hosted a very well-attended conference in August 2023. This event allowed us to gather friends, survivors, advocates, and allies for a weekend of camaraderie and connection. We were so happy to be able to welcome many first-time attendees to gather in person and are already looking forward to the next conference.
To strengthen our movement for justice, healing, and prevention, SNAP will be expanding our peer support and providing more volunteer opportunities in the coming year. Through this great work, we are ensuring survivor voices are represented as we work for significant change that will benefit children and survivors.
Right now, survivors worldwide are getting the help they need from SNAP, and more and more reach out to us daily, but we need your help to keep those programs going and get our volunteers the training they need to thrive.
Your tax-deductible gift to SNAP can help offset the cost of our important mission. If you are not in a position to contribute, you can still support us by sharing this letter with those who can. As we continue to fight for survivors across the globe, your donation or sharing the great work SNAP does will help us continue our work to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded, and prevent abuse.
Your donation ensures SNAP will be there for those who need us more than ever!
Warmly,
Michael W. McDonnell, C.P.S.
Interim Executive Director
Showing 2 comments
I agree that the suffering felt by adult catholic employees really does pale in comparison to the pain felt by those who were raped when they were children. The roman catholic system (RCS) doesn’t learn and the reason the RCS doesn’t learn is because it is so big headed.