He apologized to a selected 6 people, none from the US. What value is the spoken apology...what practical steps has he take to stop the abuse, punish the abusers, and those who protect them. The apologies of the RC are empty
What victims/survivors want is to have the molesters and those who protected them to apologize to them.
SNAP (the organization that has spearheaded putting the RC on notice and responsible legally) had this to say
www.snapnetwork.org
Rome- Pope promises to hold bishops "accountable," SNAP is skeptical
For immediate release: Monday, July 07, 2014
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (314 566 9790, [email protected])
We are glad the Pope promises to “hold accountable” Catholic officials who conceal abuse. But he hasn’t done it yet, not in Rome nor in Buenos Aires. Saying and doing are different things. The first is easy, the second is hard.
http://www.bishop-accountability.org/Argentina/
Many desperately want to believe that this humble, brilliant, and unpretentious pope is tackling the clergy abuse crisis with the same vigor he's addressing church governance and church finances. He is not.
Church defenders bring up several alleged examples of recent progress. None of them are significant.
--Fr. Carlos Urrutigoity
Sending two clerics to Paraguay isn’t necessarily progress. It’s not clear whether or when this credibly accused child molester, now second in command of diocese, will be removed from office, nor whether or when church records about him will be given to law enforcement.
–Archbishop Josef Wesolowski
Internally handling child sex crimes, whether by a custodian or cardinal, is hardly progress. So we are not encouraged by Francis' decision to rebuff police and prosecutors and to deal with Wesolowski through secretive church processes. Civilized countries usually have independent, experienced and impartial justice systems to handle crimes. That's what must happen with clerics who commit and conceal child sex crimes.
When the pope starts turning over secret church records about tens of thousands of child molesting clerics to secular officials that will be progress.
–The papal abuse panel
This could result in progress but we aren’t optimistic. Over the past 30 years, many smart and caring individuals have given superb advice to Catholic officials on abuse. Most of them have been ignored. At best, it is too early to claim this as progress. At worst, it is a diversion and distraction.
In our desperation to feel hope in the midst of this on-going crisis, we hurt kids if we engage in “wishful thinking.” We endanger boys and girls if we confuse words with deeds.
We must ask ourselves “Does this protect kids from molesters?” Today's meeting did not.
Luke's Gospel tells us “If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone?” We're asking for prevention, not symbols, gestures, pledges, or meetings. We beg Francis to listen carefully and act immediately.
Click here to see SNAP’s list of tips for the pope.
(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 20,000 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 (314 503 0003 cell, [email protected]), Barbara Blaine (312-399-4747, [email protected])
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/07/07/sex-abuse-victims-to-pope-stop-begging-for-forgiveness-and-just-stop-the-abuse.html
Barbara Blaine, outreach director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests or SNAP disagrees. Even though SNAP, now 25 years old, is the most widely recognized global support group for clerical victims with more than 18,000 members, no one from their leadership was invited to meet with Francis.
Ahead of the meeting Blaine, who was raped by her parish priest as a teenager, posed a number of topics she would like to discuss with Francis, if only she were given a chance. First, she says she would like to tell the pope, “Stop talking about the crisis as though it’s past tense, and stop delaying while your abuse panels discusses details. You know the right thing to do. You don’t need a report.”
“Wounded adults can heal themselves but vulnerable kids can't protect themselves.”
She said she would also tell the pope to focus first on prevention, instead of forgiveness. “Wounded adults can heal themselves but vulnerable kids can’t protect themselves,” she says, noting that abuse and sex abuse and the consistent cover up by the Vatican is still ongoing. She also suggests that the Holy See take “tangible steps to safeguard those at risk” by doing a number of what would seem like fairly simple steps, that are acceptable responses in the secular community when it comes to battling pedophilia, sex abuse, and child rape.
SNAP’s demands include:
1. Order bishops to set up and finance a “whistleblower fund” to reward church staff whose actions lead to criminal charges or conviction of current or former abusive clerics.
2. Insist that bishops permanently post the names, photos and whereabouts of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics (including religious order priests) on diocesan and parish websites.
3. Demand that bishops hire independent corrections staff rather than clergy to house and monitor child molesting clerics who cannot be criminally charged because of statutes of limitation in remote, secure facilities so they will be kept away from children.
4. Instruct bishops to use only licensed therapists (not priests or nuns) to deal with abuse victims.
5. Tell bishops to use only former police (not clerics) to investigate abuse cases that cannot be pursued by law enforcement.
6. Convene and fund a world-wide conference of secular lawmakers who work to reform archaic, arbitrary, and predator-friendly secular laws (like the statute of limitations) that prevent victims from exposing those who commit and conceal sex offenses through civil and criminal courts.
7. Make an urgent, strong public plea to all church employees and members, begging them to give information and suspicions about fugitive predator priests to civil authorities so the clerics may be prosecuted and kept away from children.
8. Order bishops to avoid using language that minimizes clergy abuse like “it’s just a small percentage of priests” or deflects blame like “abuse happens in other settings too” or faults accusers like “these allegations are from 25 years ago” or mollifies church-goers like “he’s not accused of molesting at this parish” or praises accused wrongdoers like “he’s a very popular priest” or guilt-trips victims like “he has tirelessly worked to help the poor”.
9. Turn over Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith or CDF records about predatory priests to local law enforcement in the nations where the alleged crimes took place and insist that the head of each diocese and religious order do likewise with their abuse records.
10. Mandate church-based sessions to teach parishioners how to respond appropriately in abuse cases so victims, witnesses and whistleblowers won’t feel intimidated or hopeless.
11. Insist that priests immediately give their passports to their bishops when abuse accusations arise so they can’t flee overseas.
12. Demote and denounce at least a dozen complicit bishops, including Bishop Robert Finn of Kansas City Missouri, the only sitting bishop who has been criminally convicted of refusing to report suspected child sex crimes.
13. Discourage current and future cover ups by clearly, publicly punishing prelates (like Cardinal Roger Mahony and others) who are concealing or have concealed child sex crimes.
14. Stop rebuffing secular officials and start letting Polish and Dominican Republic law enforcement officials arrest and prosecute Archbishop Jozef Wesolowski (a credibly accused child molesting cleric), instead of having Catholic officials investigate other Catholic officials.
Finally, Blaine says she would tell Francis that there is only one criteria that matters as he moves forward with his commission to protect minors: “Will this move actually protect kids by exposing and punishing clerics who commit and conceal child sex crimes?” If not, she says, “Then it doesn’t matter if it’s more or less than other officials or institutions have done or are doing. It doesn’t matter much if it gets great headlines. It doesn’t really matter if it makes adults feel better for a little bit. If it’s not preventing abuse, it’s probably meaningless or almost meaningless.”
