Calling it a historic chapter in the history of the clergy sexual abuse scandal in the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, a group of victims and priests has banded together to call for more transparency from church officials and to urge other victims to come forward and file for restitution in federal bankruptcy court before a Feb. 1 deadline.continue at MJS
The priests and victims have been meeting quietly for roughly a year since Peter Isely, the Midwest director for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, approached Father James Connell after a news conference.
At a news conference Tuesday at Plymouth Church in Milwaukee, Isely said the idea for the alliance between priests and victims was inspired by the Gospel.
"In the Christian story, which I believe in and have faith in, the truth may seem buried and dead, but there's always a way the truth will come back to life," he said. "I've always had a deep conviction that survivors and priests of integrity can turn the corner on the sexual abuse crisis. It's not going to be the bishops who do it."
Connell said that as the priests and victims listened to one another what emerged was "a sense of hope. . . . This hope is something to be kept alive."
The four priests involved forged the union with the survivors group independent of the archdiocese.
"It's a good thing that this group of priests is stepping forward to reach out to victims of clergy sexual abuse," said Julie Wolf, communications director for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. "But it's also important to note that priests throughout the archdiocese have been doing this for a very long time through their own ministries and their own parishes."
Wolf added that Archbishop Jerome Listecki "has been very visible in reaching out to victims." She said the archdiocese is starting the second round of a national advertising campaign aimed at reminding people who have been abused by clergy in the archdiocese to come forward before the Feb. 1 deadline. The campaign includes print advertisements that ran a few months ago in national publications such as the New York Times and USA Today.
The independent group of priests and victims took out a full-page ad in Tuesday's Journal Sentinel, urging further abuse victims to come forward by the deadline in bankruptcy court.
It is important to remember that MJS endorses a bill to allow for dioceses to be sued for dead priests and bishops. This is another push by SNAP to get this rammed through. They've campaigned for it before. To me, MJS and SNAP just has a common enemy. Any group that believes that contraception is a grave evil needs to be eliminated by any means necessary.
6 comments:
Wow, Badger - at first I thought your comment was supportive, but that last sentence was the clincher - and made me realize that I was reading something by a tribalist/clannish Catholic. Ya know, it's a tough line to try to walk - - - and I agree with you that contraception, along with abortion, euthanasia, human stem-cell use, homosexual marriage, invitro-fertilization and divorce are without a doubt serious moral evils. I oppose them and because I do I am reviled by some fellow advocates and tolerated by other advocates of the sexual abuse survivors in the Church. I do believe, however, that those hurt need to be properly taken of --- and the bishops --- mine and yours (I'm from the Toledo Diocese) -- are not up to the task and, in fact, through episcopal omerta (look it up as I'm not going explain it to ya if ya don't what it is) are preserving and protecting their own interests at the expense of these injured. 80-something Jo Pa in Pa. got booted after a decades long career in football 'cause he did exactly what the American Catholic bishops have been doing for centuries: covering up this evil. Yet - you and many other lay Catholics continue to defend the bishops. The continued evil behavior of our bishops is pushing the American Catholic Church toward the tipping point of oblivion (Jesus never promised the gates of Hell wouldn't prevail against the "American" Church - just the Church). If accountability doesn't become the cry of the laity - along with some brave orthodox priests who are out there (just silenced and fearful right now) - don't complain about those laity and clergy who are in dissent from Church teaching from slipping in amongst the wounded lambs and using the pain they feel all the time from this scourge (as the Holy Father himself called it not long ago) to opportunistically advance their own ends. ‘Course I know I’m probably just wearing out my fingers and keyboard posting here — but it is still with a hope that maybe you’ll stop humming; pull the fingers out of your ears; open your eyes and take up the bruit too. One does not have to become a dissenter to demand the kind of accountability that has serious consequences (that leaves no doubt that enough is enough) from the bishops.
SNAP does not support criminal prosecution of pedophile priests, it supports civil lawsuits against dioceses. Bankrupting dioceses punishes the people of the diocese, not the criminals who committed crimes. I totally agree that dioceses need to be held accountable to someone outside of the organization, something that almost all American dioceses are now compliment with. SNAPs support for removal of the statute of limitations shows their true colors, money hungry trial lawyers.
I support criminal prosecution, institutional accountability, and common sense settlements; none of which SNAP supports.
By the way, I haven't seen Iseley's name attached to the SNAP stuff for the last couple of months.
Wonder if he figured out that it's really all about the money, not the sins?
Does anyone else in the whole world besides me see a similarity between the tactics used by SNAP and other social engineering litigation think tanks like the SPLC and the ACLU?
Pay close attention to the people who basically support SNAP'S agenda within the Church. They fit a certain profile...
Dad, don't know about Iseley, but Clohessy and SNAP seem to be engaging in tactics that SNAP accuses the Church of doing. Pot.Kettle.
http://ncronline.org/news/accountability/snap-director-may-be-forced-testify-abuse-case
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