National- Clergy victims 'mixed' about politicians on campus rape

For immediate release: Friday, May 2, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 503 0003, SNAPdorris@gmail.com)

We are glad that Washington politicians are dealing with sexual violence on campuses and in the military. (And we are deeply impressed by and grateful for the brave victims who are fighting hard to prevent more sexual violence in these two arenas.) At the same time, however, we are sad that Washington politicians have largely ignored clergy sex crimes and cover ups.

For almost 30 years, the Catholic Church’s horrific and on-going clergy sexual abuse and cover up crisis has made national headlines. More than a dozen years ago, the scandal reached epic proportions. 

Yet not a single official in Congress or the White House even called for a mild move like hearings on Capitol Hill. Not even one meaningless resolution was passed. A baseball steroid scandal prompted far more action and attention in Washington than the church hierarchy’s reckless, callous and deceitful handling of tens of thousands of clergy sex abuse reports against at least 6,200 U.S child molesting Catholic clerics. 

A few athletes taking pills and injections generated more outrage among politicians than tens of thousands of kids getting raped and sodomized by priests and tens of thousands of crimes getting concealed by bishops. 

We applaud every single victim, witness and whistleblower who is speaking up about the outrageous sexual violence at colleges and in the military. Their courage and tenacity - especially in the face of hide-bound traditions, secretive cultures, powerful officials and widespread indifference – is heroic. And it's painfully familiar.

(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])