TX- New prosecutor elected; SNAP responds

March 05, 2014

For immediate release: Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Statement by Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, Outreach Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 862 7688 home, 314 503 0003 cell, [email protected])

We are thrilled that Rene Guerra – who has refused to aggressively pursue a murder case involving a priest -- has been defeated. We hope the newly elected prosecutor will honor his pledge to re-open the troubling Irene Garza case.

http://www.themonitor.com/news/elections/article_d68ac28e-a42d-11e3-bc8d-001a4bcf6878.html

Just days ago, Guerra made biased and hurtful comments that will make it harder for police and prosecutors to pursue criminals (because he publicly and inappropriately attacked the honesty of a witness, which deters other witnesses from stepping forward).

http://www.snapnetwork.org/tx_prosecutor_blasts_ex_priest_s_for_alleged_dishonesty_snap_responds

We hope that Ricardo Rodriguez 's election brings some hope to Garza's family. And we hope that anyone who may have seen, suspected or suffered any wrongdoing by Fr. John Feit will contact law enforcement immediately.

(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])

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Showing 4 comments

Lani Halter commented 2014-03-05 13:18:54 -0600
Having been a member of SNAP for one year now, and having viewed, read and followed every thing that I could about this specific “scandal” in the catholic church, I have decided that my personal current course of action now, is to encourage and “call for” the leaders of SNAP in the United States and those attorneys willingly affliated with SNAP, to please write legal petitions for U.S. members to sign and for them to get signed, that call for a referendum to vote for the abolishment of all SOL laws applied to and regarding crimes committed by pedophiles against children and disabled adults; including but not limited to crimes committed by catholic pedophile priests, heirarchy and laity in the United States and its territories. Please let us do a “grass roots campaign”, via the internet if necessary, as our current president did to get elected; to achieve this very obviously important and necessary change to both our criminal and civil laws. The scourge must be STOPPED! Surely, it must be clear to all of us now, that they, (the pope and all the other leaders of the catholic church), will not do it for us. The scourge must be STOPPED! The United States of America is a uniquely qualified place to be able to achieve at least this portion of the battle against enabled pedophiles in the catholic church. WE CAN DO IT! WE CAN DO IT HERE!!!
Elizabeth Fahling commented 2014-03-05 13:02:32 -0600
Please also see:
Priest’s unsolved murder: 16 years later
http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/abbott/140302
WISCONSIN
Renew America
By Matt C. Abbott

On March 4, 1998, Father Alfred Kunz, a parish priest and canon lawyer – and discreet whistleblower of corrupt clergy – from the Diocese of Madison, Wis., was found in a pool of blood with his throat slit. The murder remains unsolved to this day.
Elizabeth Fahling commented 2014-03-05 12:38:37 -0600
And the Jesuit Order covered up information on the suspicious death of James Chevedden in San Jose, California. Fr. Thomas Smolich was the Jesuit provincial at the time.
NBC report on Chevedden’s suspicious death:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GyL4YCDCBo
@ tweeted this page. 2014-03-05 11:12:20 -0600
New prosecutor elected; SNAP responds http://www.snapnetwork.org/tx_new_prosecutor_elected_snap_responds?recruiter_id=21019
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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.

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Interim Executive Director

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