News Story of the Day
Urgent plea to Irish adoptees and "home children" in US to tell their stories
Were you born in a Mother and Baby Home, a County Home or similar place in Ireland?
Or are you a relative of an adopted person from Ireland? Or did you once work for an institution or agency involved with unmarried mothers and their children there?
The Adoption Rights Alliance and the Justice for Magdalenes Research group launched Clann in 2016 to gather the data and submit a group report to the ongoing Commission of Investigation into Mother and Baby Homes and Certain Related Matters in Ireland.
Lawsuit: Film raised memories of sexual abuse by Albuquerque priests
By Uriel J. Garcia, The New Mexican, May 19, 2017
A lawsuit filed in April against the Archdiocese of Santa Fe says a 2015 film about widespread child sexual abuse by Catholic clergy in the Boston area triggered a New Mexico's man's childhood memories of being sexually abused by two priests at an Albuquerque church.
Attorneys representing the man, identified as John Doe 66, filed the suit Thursday in the 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque. It also names the Church of Ascension Parish in Albuquerque's South Valley as a defendant.
7 Victims Name Priests Who Sexually Abused Them as Children
Seven men who were abused as children by priests of the Archdiocese of New York revealed on Thursday some of the details of the settlements they had received through the archdiocese’s new sexual abuse survivor compensation fund.
Since October, more than 100 victims have settled their sex abuse cases with the archdiocese by taking their claims to the Independent Reconciliation and Compensation Program. But very few details have been revealed because the program keeps the cases confidential, and no victims have yet spoken out.
Catholic Archbishop Philip Wilson seeks to have charge of hiding child sex abuse thrown out
By Karl Hoerr, May 18, 2017, ABC News Australia
Lawyers for Catholic Archbishop of Adelaide Philip Wilson, accused of concealing child sex abuse in the Maitland-Newcastle diocese, have fronted court again for their third attempt to stop the case against him from going ahead.
Trial Mines How Victims Process Trauma
By Christopher Peak, May 16, 2017, New Haven Independent
Hartford — During the three years when Eliyahu Mirlis claimed Rabbi Daniel Greer sexually molested him, why didn’t Mirlis try to stop it?
Child Abuse Bill Becomes Law In Oklahoma, Amendment Sparks Controversy
By Jessi Mitchell, News 9, May 16, 2017
OKLAHOMA CITY - Gov. Mary Fallin signed a bill into law last week, giving child sex abuse victims longer to come forward, but critics say an amendment to the bill may actually be detrimental to some of the victims.
Priest who came to Ireland in 1990s linked to nun's murder in new Netflix documentary The Keepers
By Aoife Kelly, May 15 2017, Independent.ie
A priest who moved to Ireland from the US in the mid 1990s has been linked to the murder of a nun in Netflix's new documentary The Keepers.
The seven part series, which debuts on the streaming site on Friday, examines the unsolved murder of Catholic nun Sister Cathy Cesnik, in Baltimore in 1969.
Nobody has ever been charged despite a lead emerging in the 1990s when one of her former students at Keough High School came forward to claim she was sexually abused by the high school's chaplain Father Joseph Maskell.
Pope acknowledges 2,000-case backlog in sex abuse cases
Associated Press, May 13, 2017, BreakingNews.ie
The Vatican has a 2,000-case backlog in processing clerical sex abuse cases, and criticism of the slow pace is justified, Pope Francis has said.
But he said Saturday that more staff were being added and insisted the Vatican is "on the right path".
Francis was making his first comments about the criticism levelled at the Vatican's handling of sex abuse cases by Marie Collins, an Irish abuse survivor who resigned from Francis' sex abuse advisory commission in March.
Archdiocese bankruptcy reorganization plan rejected by sex-abuse survivors
By TAD VEZNER | [email protected] | Pioneer Press May 11, 2017
Former priest, scout leader pedophile target of $110M lawsuit
By: Alexandra Paul, 05/11/2017, Winnipeg Free Press
A former Anglican minister and boy scouts leader convicted in dozens of sex abuse cases against young indigenous boys is now the focus of a proposed class-action lawsuit seeking more than $100 million.
The suit alleges Ralph Rowe abused hundreds of boys in northwestern Ontario and Manitoba First Nations where he worked in the 1970s and '80s.
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