MO--New head of KC diocese should act on 2 priests

For immediate release: Friday, April 24

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

Two priests who molested in Kansas City MO are now still priests living or working elsewhere, unsupervised, among unsuspecting families. The new temporary head of the Kansas City diocese should act now to warn others about them.   

The credibly accused child molesting clerics are

--Fr. Thomas Cronin of Nevada, who is involved with a homeless women's shelter despite a civil lawsuit in Kansas City (now settled) that charges him with sexually violating a young woman.

http://www.bishop-accountability.org/news2010/09_10/2010_10_21_Bellisle_KansasCity.htm

–-Bishop Joseph Hart of Wyoming who, as a priest in KC, molested at least six boys. (They have sued and those suits have settled.)

Archbishop Joseph Naumann has said he won’t make dramatic changes. But years of trauma in the Kansas City MO diocese have resulted from bishops doing little or nothing to protect the vulnerable from potentially dangerous priests.

Naumann should take immediate steps to alert police, prosecutors, parishioners, parents and the public about Cronin and Hart. These two predator priests could be assaulting kids and young people out west today. They could be visiting Kansas City, and hurting kids and young people, here this weekend. With real outreach by Naumann, Cronin and Hart might even be prosecuted, convicted and imprisoned, sparing others decades of devastating pain.

Presumably, Bishop Robert Finn’s resignation is intended to bring healing to Kansas City Catholics and victims. But wounded adults can heal themselves, with or without action by bishops. But innocent kids and vulnerable adults cannot protect themselves from predators without action by bishops.

Naumann should put announcements in every parish bulletin at the first opportunity, begging those who saw, suspected or suffered crimes by Cronin or Hart to step forward and call police.

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]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected]) Phil Pisciotta (816-223-6920, [email protected] )