SNAP urges Catholic Church to be more transparent about abusive nuns, lay employees, and volunteers

May 14, 2021

Today a judge ordered the Archdiocese of New York and three of its Catholic schools to turn over documents related to a former teacher who has been accused of child sexual abuse. We are pleased with this development and hope that the transparency ordered will be voluntarily applied across the board in the Archdiocese, because we know that beneath all of the visible allegations against priests and religious brothers the rest of the iceberg lurks: accusations of abuse by nuns, lay employees and volunteers in Catholic institutions.

A preliminary assessment of the Catholic cases resulting from the Child Victims Act Indicates that about 76% involve clergy of all ranks and religious brothers, 4% nuns, and the remainder laypeople, including teachers. It is notable that nationwide, prelates seem to us to make an extra effort to avoid talking about abusive nuns, teachers, other lay employees, and volunteers. Yet everywhere SNAP is, we field reports about perpetrators in those categories. Unfortunately, most of what we learn comes from the media, not the best source of information, the Church. But even when a perpetrator is identified in the press, the abuser is almost never named by the bishop on his diocesan list.

We believe that the United States Bishops Conference should mandate that all of those accused of abuse in Catholic institutions - whether clergy or lay - should be named on the diocesan lists. That would likely mean a ballooning of reports - from 7,000 priests to perhaps double that in nuns and lay people. But the transparency would mean that the victims of nuns, teachers and others would finally get some validation which would help in the healing process..

More importantly, this heightened transparency also would mean that these perpetrators would be publicly outed, and if living, would perhaps prevent potential predators from being hired by non-Catholic employers.

CONTACT: Dan McNevin, SNAP Treasurer (415-341-6417, [email protected]), Mike McDonnell, SNAP Communications Manager (267-261-0578, [email protected]) , Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (517-974-9009, [email protected])

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our website is SNAPnetwork.org)

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Zach Hiner published this page in Official SNAP Media Statements 2021-05-14 11:25:47 -0500

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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

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