Updated August 10, 2012
NCAA & Penn State more moral than
May 1 & September 11 anniversaries for SNAP and JP2 Army victims. SNAP ad in New York Times should be framed and permanently exhibited in all churches, schools and children venues: U.S. Catholic Bishops and Child Sex Crimes http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/may-1-september-11-anniversaries-for.html
Updated May 2, 2012
As far as Australia, SNAP's plight from the Goliath-bully Bill Donohue and the Vatican Totalitarian Regime is getting well known, read also our latest related article, Hypocrite Benedict silenced Fr Tony Flannery – A compilation… but he does not silence Cardinal Bernard Law and JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hypocrite-benedict-silenced-outspoken.html
Updated April 22, 2012 What planet is the Missouri judge living in for ordering SNAP to turn its 20 year records to the church? See news update for April 22 below
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This post contains a compilation of all the articles of Goliath-bully Bill Donohue against David & SNAP & victims of the JP2 Army-John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army, so check on its update regularly. It also contains a continuous update of the articles of the defenders and allies of David & SNAP and victims of the JP2 Army. Unlike in the Bible, it will take more than one pebble to beat Goliath-bully Bill Donohue -- it will take the MSM main stream media journalists just likeNormandy
There is no need to feel sorry for Benedict XVI and the Vatileaks because his henchmen in the States are even more ruthless, they have infiltrated again SNAP’s Conference this year, read news updates below. The Vatican and John Paul II and Benedict XVI have proven themselves to be amoral in the latter half of the 20th century as they covered-up the JP2 Army-John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army and their henchmen Bill Donohue of the Catholic League and Dave Pierre of The Media Report in the USA will go to any length to defend them as the biggest Opus Dei Golden Cows who must be worshipped by Catholics who must “Pray, Pay, Obey” them.
And they will bully any Catholic who dare defend the victims of the JP2 Army. So who do Goliath-Bill Donohue and Pied Piper Dave Pierre attack but the core group the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) and for the second year in a row they sent spies so that they can bully the speakers of SNAP Conference via the Catholic League and The Media Report proving that they too have no morals just like their amoral Masters the Vatican and the Popes, read our related article.
NCAA & Penn State more moral than Vatican
Vatican Titanic Ship hits icebergs in New York and Ireland
May 1 & September 11 anniversaries for SNAP and JP2 Army victims. SNAP ad in New York Times should be framed and permanently exhibited in all churches, schools and children venues: U.S. Catholic Bishops and Child Sex Crimes http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/07/may-1-september-11-anniversaries-for.html
Vatileaks: a compilation. Vatican Leaks and Secrets of Benedict XVI revealed http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/06/vatileaks-compilation-secrets-of.html
Bulgaria appoints new ambassador to the Holy See...to do what exactly...with a few hundred GAY homosexual residents of the smallest country, Vatican
Occupy the Vatican http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/10/ows-otv-occupy-wall-street-occupy.html
Occupy the Vatican http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2011/10/ows-otv-occupy-wall-street-occupy.html
Catholics should learn from Occupy Wall Street and fight back and Occupy the Vatican
Pledge to Fight Back
Pledge to Fight Back
Fellow occupier, we need your help to end the relentless class war against the 99%. Sign your name to something better by taking the FIGHT BACK pledge at OccupyWallSt.org.
Why should I promise to fight? Because the 1% wreck our economy, kill our jobs, seize our homes, assault our rights, destroy the environment, and sentence us to lives of debt and war. For years, we have petitioned our governments for change without redress and have fought tirelessly to elect politicians who only betray us. In a world where the 1% have usurped democracy and politicians refuse to serve the people, the people have but one choice—to fight back!
How can I fight? Occupiers use direct action to create change, because it works better than voting and is way more fun. Read the pledge to learn how to use some of these tactics.
“Civil disobedience is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. Our problem is that people all over the world have obeyed the dictates of leaders…and millions have been killed because of this obedience…Our problem is that people are obedient all over the world in the face of poverty and starvation and stupidity, and war, and cruelty. Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves… (and) the grand thieves are running the country. That’s our problem.” – Howard Zinn
Click here and pledge to flight back today! http://occupywallst.org/fightback/?utm_source=OccupyWallSt.org&utm_campaign=4f1b2c1cc5-Pledge&utm_medium=email
Updated May 2, 2012
As far as Australia, SNAP's plight from the Goliath-bully Bill Donohue and the Vatican Totalitarian Regime is getting well known, read also our latest related article, Hypocrite Benedict silenced Fr Tony Flannery – A compilation… but he does not silence Cardinal Bernard Law and JP2 Army – John Paul II Pedophile Priests http://popecrimes.blogspot.ca/2012/04/hypocrite-benedict-silenced-outspoken.html
Updated April 22, 2012 What planet is the Missouri judge living in for ordering SNAP to turn its 20 year records to the church? See news update for April 22 below
=================
This post contains a compilation of all the articles of Goliath-bully Bill Donohue against David & SNAP & victims of the JP2 Army-John Paul II Pedophile Priests Army, so check on its update regularly. It also contains a continuous update of the articles of the defenders and allies of David & SNAP and victims of the JP2 Army. Unlike in the Bible, it will take more than one pebble to beat Goliath-bully Bill Donohue -- it will take the MSM main stream media journalists just like
Anyone who dare point out any truth and criticism about the Catholic Church and its Opus Dei Golden Cows John Paul II, Benedict XVI, Cardinals and Bishops and only-male hierarchy will hear from Goliath-bully Bill Donohue and his 24/7 Opus Dei Internet foot soldiers. May The Hague The Hague
The Vatican's wealthiest American Goliath-bully Bill Donohue with his Catholic League 23 million dollars assets and his 500,000 dollars annual salary have all the time and money to attack the small SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, and its President David Clohessy and victims of the JP2 Army. The ranting English language of Bill Donohue can only be compared to a rattle snake because all the articles he publishes in Catholic League are like venoms on anyone who speaks the truth against the Opus Dei Golden Cows John Paul II, Benedict XVI and Cardinals and Bishops and to anyone whom he brands as anti-Catholic. But being anti-Catholic is a necessity in this 21st century especially now that we know what the Prime Minister of Ireland has declared to the whole world within the official chamber of the Irish Parliament that, "the Cloyne Report excavates the dysfunction, disconnection, elitism....the narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day… as little as three years ago, not three decades ago. The rape and torture of children were downplayed or 'managed' to uphold instead, the primacy of the institution, its power, standing and 'reputation'. This is the main mission of Goliath-bully Bill Donohue and Catholic League – to uphold the primacy of the Opus Dei Golden Cows John Paul II and Benedict XVI and the “power, standing and 'reputation'” of the Vatican at all costs.
Goliath-bully Bill Donohue main mission is to feed the Vatican Mammon Beast with more Catholic dysfunction, disconnection, elitism....and narcissism that dominate the culture of the Vatican to this day.
If you know more articles to add to this compilation, please email it to us via comment or email. Thank you in advance.
If you know more articles to add to this compilation, please email it to us via comment or email. Thank you in advance.
Read our related articles:
insane KC STAR CAMPAIGN HITS by Catholic League fanatic Bill Donohue propagating... Bishop Finn make Devil's Bowels smell like roses in KC, Missouri
Goliath-bully Bill Donohue & Catholic League attacks on SNAP
Update August 10, 2012
August 09, 2012
Catholic Espionage Groups Infiltrate SNAP Convention for Second Consecutive Year
http://anticatholicleague.typepad.com/anticatholic_league/2012/08/catholic-espionage-groups-infiltrate-snap-convention-for-second-consecutive-year.html
By David FortwenglerTwo groups affiliated with the Catholic Church consider the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) so dangerous and evil that they are using the same warlike tactics as the CIA. Last year Bill Donohue of the Catholic League planted two of his troops surreptitiously into enemy-held territory when he had them register for and attend the SNAP National Conference in
The Catholic League’s and The Media Report’s hatred of SNAP is so intense they are willing to use some convoluted version of the “just war theory” to infiltrate SNAP’s conference. Donohue claims the registration for the conference was open to the public so he believes his spies did nothing morally wrong or sinful by lying about their presence. The SNAP convention advertises its meeting as a gathering of survivors, their supporters and advocates. Since SNAP does not make attendees go to confession to explain their presence Donohue and
Since 2002 I have often wondered how “in the pew” Catholics justify their membership in the church. Do they not believe in the corruption of the hierarchy, do they understand the scope and nature of the scandal, do they believe anti-catholicism is the cause, and what mental gymnastics are used to separate their faith from the crimes committed by clergy? Since I am no longer catholic I never thought it was appropriate to violate someone’s right to worship on Sunday and ask these questions. However, the tactics used by the Catholic League and The Media Report have caused me to change my mind. I will be going underground this Sunday and enter a Catholic Church to talk with parishioners. I will use the same justification as the anti-survivor hate groups, church is open to the public. In fact, most of them have a sign somewhere that says, “All Welcome”.
Excellent assessment David. I was stunned that these guys feel it is appropriate to sneak around in a group that is trying to help victims heal. Its stunning that they call themselves Christian. Posted by: David Lorenz | August 09, 2012 at 12:18 PM
Bill Donohue needs a fishing rod and an airline ticket to
Posted by: Verity | August 09, 2012 at 11:56 PM
In case you haven't got the memo: SNAP is the Church created as damage control and counter-intelligence by the Dominicans out of
Please google Victims of Silence@Bulletinboards.com and read what the victims have documented about SNAP's creation and it's treatment of the people they claim to represent.
P.S. How can the Church i.e. SNAP be infiltrated by itself i.e. the Catholic League and the Media Report?
This is all a big show put on so the victims won't even be spoken about....or to.
I am a compensated victim from L.A.Calif. and have worked around SNAP since 2003.
I know of what I speak. I also handcuffed myself to Cardinal Mahoney's throne in the middle of mass. And did jail time for it. More time than 99% of the rapists and their pimps have ever done.
Hey Jim, I understand that many survivors don't believe SNAP speaks for them. However, I don't believe that SNAP is a part of, or a tool of the church. My post is not about defending SNAP anyway, it is about the gall of these groups to sneak around victims trying to heal. ps - When I attend church this weekend I won't be handcuffing myself to a priests chair. I'm not as brave you. I remember when you did that and thought it was a powerful example of civil disobedience.
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Update May 2, 2012
UNITED STATES
ABC Radio National (Australia)
[with audio]
In the United States recently, in the dioceses of St Louis and Kansas City in Missouri, church leaders have issued subpoenas demanding access to the records of the organisation called SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. SNAP is mainly a counselling and support group and many victims have given details of their cases, even if they do not want to prosecute perpetrators. Into the bargain, one of the leading conservative Catholic voices, William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told The New York Times recently that SNAP was 'a menace to the Catholic Church' and said the church needed to 'toughen up and buy some good lawyers'. The national director of SNAP, David Clohessy, explains the nature of the legal challenge that his organisation faces.
ABC Radio National (Australia)
[with audio]
In the United States recently, in the dioceses of St Louis and Kansas City in Missouri, church leaders have issued subpoenas demanding access to the records of the organisation called SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. SNAP is mainly a counselling and support group and many victims have given details of their cases, even if they do not want to prosecute perpetrators. Into the bargain, one of the leading conservative Catholic voices, William Donohue of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, told The New York Times recently that SNAP was 'a menace to the Catholic Church' and said the church needed to 'toughen up and buy some good lawyers'. The national director of SNAP, David Clohessy, explains the nature of the legal challenge that his organisation faces.
Update April 22, 2012
ASSOCIATED PRESS | Posted: Sunday, April 22, 2012
KANSAS CITY • A group that supports victims of sexual abuse will have to turn over decades of records to lawyers representing priests in the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, but the type of information that must be released will be limited, a Jackson County judge has decided.
Attorneys for the diocese sought records stretching back more than 20 years from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in an effort to determine whether SNAP has been coaching victims and plaintiffs to say they repressed memories of abuse for years.
SNAP has strongly denied coaching victims.
If defense lawyers can prove that the plaintiffs did not actually suppress memories of sexual abuse for decades, judges would have to throw out the lawsuits under a five-year statute of limitations that the Missouri Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2006, The Kansas City Star reported.
Attorneys for the diocese sought records stretching back more than 20 years from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests in an effort to determine whether SNAP has been coaching victims and plaintiffs to say they repressed memories of abuse for years.
SNAP has strongly denied coaching victims.
If defense lawyers can prove that the plaintiffs did not actually suppress memories of sexual abuse for decades, judges would have to throw out the lawsuits under a five-year statute of limitations that the Missouri Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2006, The Kansas City Star reported.
The
By MARK MORRIS
TheKansas City
The
A group that supports sexual abuse victims will have to turn over decades of records to lawyers representing accused Roman Catholic priests, a Jackson County judge said Friday.
The judge agreed, however, to limit the amount of information that the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests will have to search and disclose.
The broad demand for records going back more than 20 years has drawn national attention to the case, with some accusing the Catholic Church of bullying a victim advocacy group. Others have criticized the advocacy group, known as SNAP, for demanding transparency from the church while explaining little about its own role in holding the church to account.
Among a host of issues at play in the lawsuits, defense lawyers want to know whether SNAP has been coaching victims and potential plaintiffs on the controversial topic of repressed memory.
SNAP has denied doing so. But if defense lawyers can prove that the plaintiffs did not actually repress and later remember decades-old sexual abuse, judges would have to throw out the lawsuits under a five-year statute of limitations that the Missouri Supreme Court reaffirmed in 2006.
National Catholic Reporter
Apr. 20, 2012
By Joshua J. McElwee
By Joshua J. McElwee
KANSAS CITY. Mo. -- A Missouri judge this afternoon (Friday) ordered the director of the leading advocacy group for victims of clergy sex abuse to give a second deposition and to turn over more documents to lawyers representing priests accused of sexual misconduct in the Kansas City-St. Joseph diocese.
Lawyers representing at least four accused priests in the diocese will have access to a wide range of documents from the files of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The judge ordered SNAP to handover nearly all its files “relating to sexual or other misconduct by priests in the diocese,” and for SNAP director David Clohessy to undergo a second deposition.
The order is yet to be officially filed but was handed down by Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle following nearly four hours of arguments between lawyers this afternoon.
Lawyers representing at least four accused priests in the diocese will have access to a wide range of documents from the files of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). The judge ordered SNAP to handover nearly all its files “relating to sexual or other misconduct by priests in the diocese,” and for SNAP director David Clohessy to undergo a second deposition.
The order is yet to be officially filed but was handed down by Jackson County, Mo., Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle following nearly four hours of arguments between lawyers this afternoon.
SNAP is not a party to the lawsuit involving a Kansas City, Mo., diocesan priest, but the case made headlines in January when the judge allowed a defense motion to depose the SNAP director and for the organization to turn over documents, including letters and emails from victims and journalists. This was the first time SNAP had been forced to testify in an abuse case in its 23-year history.
UNITED STATES
Anglocat on the Prowl
Anglocat on the Prowl
Ah, here we go again. Cardinal Dolan approvingly links the analysis of William Donohue of the deposition of David Clohessy, Director of the Survivors' Network of those Abused by Priests ("SNAP") (Donohue and Dolan, by quotation, mistakenly call him the President; according to SNAP, Barbara Blaine, the organization's founder, holds that position.) Clohessy was deposed in a case where neither he nor SNAP is a party. Dolan quotes Donohue's "report" to the effect that:
Clohessy proved to be uncooperative, refusing to comply with a request for internal documents; he only released a small portion of them. On the stand, he was similarly recalcitrant, refusing to answer many questions. He took refuge in a Missouri law which protects the confidentiality of rape crisis centers. But there are serious reasons to doubt whether SNAP meets the test of a rape crisis center.
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Catholic League
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), David Clohessy, and its outreach director, Barbara Dorris:
Yesterday I said, “[David] Clohessy never tires of lecturing the Catholic Church on the need for transparency, yet when he is in the hot seat he rebels.” I was referring to his anger at being subpoenaed to testify in a St. Louis court on Monday regarding public statements he made that were allegedly taken from lawyer Rebecca Randles in violation of a court gag order. Now Clohessy is justifying a double standard.
“We believe that there are two standards of transparency,” Clohessy said. He maintained there is one standard for “institutions that have enabled thousands of pedophiles,” and another for “organizations that enable kids to be safer and expose heinous crimes.” In other words, there should be one standard of justice for the Catholic Church, and another for SNAP.
A defense lawyer seized the moment. He noted that Clohessy wants bishops to suspend accused priests “the minute they are sued for abuse.” Accordingly, he then asked, does this mean SNAP should close its doors immediately if it is sued for defamation or libel? Clohessy flatly said, “No.” Interestingly, Clohessy refused to answer many questions during his deposition, complaining that “Church defense lawyers will likely ask that we be found in contempt of court and possibly fined or possibly jailed.” Reporters described him as looking “shaken and teary-eyed.”
SNAP PROTECTS CHILD MOLESTERS
Catholic League
The weekly
Clohessy is quoted as saying the following about St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson: “Archbishop Carlson and his brother Catholic bishops have hired, hidden, transferred, defended and enabled child molesters. SNAP hasn’t. Carlson and his colleagues have ignored and concealed their crimes. SNAP hasn’t.”
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:
I will leave it to Archbishop Carlson’s lawyers to respond to Clohessy, but I cannot allow the SNAP director to lie about his own personal involvement in the cover-up of a known child molester.
SNAP COMES UNDONE
UNITED STATES
Catholic League
Catholic League
On January 2, David Clohessy, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), was deposed in Missouri
Donohue summarizes his report as follows:
David Clohessy claims that he doesn’t have to turn over most of the requested documents, or answer many of the questions. Why? Because SNAP is a rape crisis center, and therefore its confidentiality is protected underMissouri Missouri
Clohessy counsels alleged victims of abuse for a living, yet he admits to having no training whatsoever. He confessed that he does his unlicensed counseling in places like Starbucks; he also “consoles” his clients over the phone. Furthermore, there is not a single employed licensed counselor on SNAP’s staff. Moreover, he could not state a single instance where SNAP has paid for a licensed counselor to counsel a specific person.
Donohue summarizes his report as follows:
David Clohessy claims that he doesn’t have to turn over most of the requested documents, or answer many of the questions. Why? Because SNAP is a rape crisis center, and therefore its confidentiality is protected under
Clohessy counsels alleged victims of abuse for a living, yet he admits to having no training whatsoever. He confessed that he does his unlicensed counseling in places like Starbucks; he also “consoles” his clients over the phone. Furthermore, there is not a single employed licensed counselor on SNAP’s staff. Moreover, he could not state a single instance where SNAP has paid for a licensed counselor to counsel a specific person.
BISHOPS SHOULD ONLY HIRE TOUGH LAWYERS
UNITED STATES
Catholic League
Catholic League
Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds to today’s editorial in the New York Times on the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP):
We now know from the deposition of SNAP director David Clohessy that he has been (a) lying to the media about his work (b) falsely advertising his group as a rape crisis center (c) working with unseemly lawyers (d) exploiting his clients by providing unauthorized “counseling” services (e) ripping off those who are truly in need of help by failing to contribute even a dime for licensed counselors, and (f) pursuing priests on the basis of legal criteria he admits he cannot explain.
Furthermore, we know from two people who went undercover last summer to a SNAP conference in the D.C. area that the Catholic Church is regarded by these activists as “the evil institution.” Yet when the bishops finally decide to play hardball, they are slammed by the New York Times!
When the Times is sued, does it hire wimpy lawyers? Does it allow itself to be a punching bag? Not on your life: they hire the most aggressive attorneys they can buy. But when the bishops follow suit, they’re accused of not showing “reconciliation” for the victims.
We now know from the deposition of SNAP director David Clohessy that he has been (a) lying to the media about his work (b) falsely advertising his group as a rape crisis center (c) working with unseemly lawyers (d) exploiting his clients by providing unauthorized “counseling” services (e) ripping off those who are truly in need of help by failing to contribute even a dime for licensed counselors, and (f) pursuing priests on the basis of legal criteria he admits he cannot explain.
Furthermore, we know from two people who went undercover last summer to a SNAP conference in the D.C. area that the Catholic Church is regarded by these activists as “the evil institution.” Yet when the bishops finally decide to play hardball, they are slammed by the New York Times!
When the Times is sued, does it hire wimpy lawyers? Does it allow itself to be a punching bag? Not on your life: they hire the most aggressive attorneys they can buy. But when the bishops follow suit, they’re accused of not showing “reconciliation” for the victims.
2011 ANNUAL REPORT ON ANTI-CATHOLICISM
UNITED STATESCatholic League
The Catholic League’s 2011 Annual Report on Anti-Catholicism is now available. It covers all the major issues that the Catholic League dealt with in 2011, along with many others that came to our attention.
The report covers the following areas: activist organizations; the arts; business/workplace; education; government; and the media.
There are special sections as well: our exposé of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP); our response to a Rolling Stone article and a Philadelphia Inquirer editorial on the Archdiocese of Philadelphia; a reprint of our ads in defense of the Catholic Church that appeared in the New York Times and the Chicago Tribune; a lengthy analysis of the John Jay Report on Sexual Abuse; a detailed account of the attacks on Bishop Robert Finn by SNAP and the Kansas City Star; and a section on the War on Christmas
SNAP’S DEFENDERS SHOW TRUE COLORS
UNITED STATESCatholic League
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on those who continue to defend the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP):
Last week we released a report on SNAP that showed beyond a reasonable doubt what an utter fraud the organization is (click here to read it). It was not an essay; it was not an op-ed; it was not conjecture; it was not our opinion. It was the voice of David Clohessy, the director of SNAP. When coupled with our report last summer on the proceedings of its national convention (it offered irrefutable proof of its hate-filled agenda) it cannot be maintained by any serious observer what SNAP is all about.
The credibility of those who continue to defend this wholly discredited organization is on the line. That would include the editorial board of the New York Times and the Newark Star-Ledger (the latter offered a particularly vicious statement), as well as pundits such as Andrew Sullivan. That the near-moribund National Organization for Women and the Feminist Majority should weigh in is not surprising: though SNAP has nothing to do with women’s rights, it has everything to do with attacking the Catholic Church, and that is music to the ear of radical feminists. But it is Frank Bruni, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, who needs to be answered more than anyone; he loves SNAP.
Is SNAP's David Clohessy Really a Hypocrite?By Nicholas Phillips
Tue., Jan. 10 2012 Recently in both
SNAP director David Clohessy often impugns the Church for failing to deal transparently with clerical sex abuse. Is it hypocritical for him to balk at releasing his group's correspondence with victims, journalists and others?
Catholic League president Bill Donahue apparently thinks so, suggesting in the Post-Dispatch last week that:
Clohessy never tires of lecturing the Catholic Church on the need for transparency, yet when he is in the hot seat, he rebels.
Daily RFT asked Clohessy by e-mail for his reaction.
He roundly rejects any moral equivalence. Here's what he wrote to us:
Transparency about criminals helps protect the vulnerable. Transparency about victims hurts the already-hurting.
When victims' privacy is respected, more victims are able to speak up, protect others, expose predators and start healing. When victims' privacy is violated, more victims stay silent, more predators walk free and more innocent people are assaulted.
Who benefits when the private e mails of a struggling teenager, who was sexually assaulted for years by her priest, are given to Archbishop Carlson and his lawyers? That's not "transparency." That's a travesty. That's brutality. That's betrayal.
Attacking SNAP A Bad Move
Posted at 12:24
Donohue's comments come in the wake of two Missouri Catholic dioceses sending subpoenas for deposition testimony to David Clohessy, a SNAP founder and spokesperson. From reading the deposition transcripts of Clohessy's testimony, it was evident that the lawyers were more interested in the internal finances and operation of SNAP rather than the sex abuse lawsuits that were purported to be the subject of the deposition.
Of course, the actions of these two dioceses does not make for a conspiracy of US bishops against SNAP. But, in case the bishops are entertaining such a notion, here's why they shouldn't do it: 1)SNAP's mission is to serve and assist those who've been abused by priests, ministers, counselors and other authority figures, 2)they want to hold the Catholic Church and other institutions accountable for the actions and behavior of their ministers and priests, 3)as the article correctly points out, such a strategy would make the Catholic Church look like Goliath taking on David ie. it would be seen as a bullying tactic and an attempt to silence an organization that does much good, and finally, 4)SNAP wouldn't exist or need to exist any longer if the Catholic bishops had done their job by taking care of those abused and reporting abuse to law enforcement.
It's really as simple as that.
BOSTON VICTIMS’ SUMMIT BOMBS
Catholic League
Over the weekend, lawyers, columnists, reporters, psychiatrists, and activists attended the “10th Anniversary Celebration & Conference” in
Commenting on the outcome is Catholic League president Bill Donohue:
A whopping 75 people turned out for the conference, 25 of whom were the speakers. How embarrassing. It’s clear that the professional victims’ lobby is spent. Everyone else has moved on, but those who have an ideological, emotional or financial interest in continuing this saga cannot let go. What a pitiful bunch of malcontents.
BOSTON VICTIMS BASK IN MISERY
Catholic League
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on a front-page story in today’s Boston Globe on alleged victims of priestly sexual abuse who are speaking up on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the Globe’s series on the scandal in the Boston Archdiocese:
Many Catholics that I have spoken to, including the clergy, have grown weary of those who claim they were victimized by a priest decades ago and are still not satisfied with the Church’s response. No matter what the Church does—doling out millions, providing endless counseling and therapy, mandating training sessions for every employee to guard against abuse—it’s never enough. It’s time for some straight talk: these people don’t want to move on, and that’s because they have too much invested in maintaining their victim status.
Consider the remarks printed in today’s Boston Globe by alleged victims.
◦“The church has failed miserably, miserably, miserably”
◦“I’m very underwhelmed”
◦“I don’t think it’s anything [the reforms] to brag about”
◦“If anything, it’s worse than we ever thought”
VICTIMS’ LOBBY TO MEET IN BOSTON
Catholic League
Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:
The professional victims’ lobby is meeting in
• Actors and artists will set the tone with melodramatic precision
• Activists from SNAP, along with a suspended priest, will discuss their conspiracy theories about the “evil institution”
• Two psychiatrists and a psychologist will entertain the crowd with their fully discredited notions about “repressed memory”
• Bigoted lawyers will delight the audience by drawing analogies between Islamic terrorists and the Vatican
• Reporters and columnists who are so full of hate that they can’t see straight will recount their paranoid stories
David & SNAP's allies
SNAP denounces Church officials' legal hardball
UNITED STATES
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
Posted by Becky Plumly Ianni on March 13, 2012
We're heartsick over these legal attacks and the chilling impact these church officials are having and will have on vulnerable and hurting victims, witnesses and whistleblowers. They are crippling our work to protect the vulnerable and heal the wounded, and rubbing even more salt into the already deep and still fresh wounds of hundreds of child sex abuse victims and thousands of betrayed Catholics.
And we're scared for victims of domestic violence, rape and other sex crimes who, thanks to Catholic officials, must now worry that accused or admitted sex offenders will try to get their private emails in completely unrelated civil lawsuits involving litigants they've never meet in places they've never been.
We call on Catholic church employees and members - from Cardinal Tim Dolan on down - to publicly denounce and stop these mean-spirited and intimidating attacks. Until America's bishops forcefully condemn and stop using these brutal tactics, parishioners and the public will believe what Mr. Donahue maintains: that bishops "have come together collectively" to "better toughen up."
These hardball legal maneuvers by church officials make it harder for citizens to report known and suspected crimes and harder for police and prosecutors to arrest and convict criminals. They make it tougher for suffering victims to get the help they so desperately need and deserve. And they violate Constitutionally-protected freedoms of speech and association and privacy.
We call on Catholic church employees and members - from Cardinal Tim Dolan on down - to publicly denounce and stop these mean-spirited and intimidating attacks. Until America's bishops forcefully condemn and stop using these brutal tactics, parishioners and the public will believe what Mr. Donahue maintains: that bishops "have come together collectively" to "better toughen up."
These hardball legal maneuvers by church officials make it harder for citizens to report known and suspected crimes and harder for police and prosecutors to arrest and convict criminals. They make it tougher for suffering victims to get the help they so desperately need and deserve. And they violate Constitutionally-protected freedoms of speech and association and privacy.
=======
When the Jurist loses Prudence, Goliath Hammers David
By Vinnie Nauheimer
It is obvious to the most casual observer that jurist prudence was snapped by the decision to allow lawyers for the Catholic Church carte blanche to pilfer, pour over and ponder twenty three years of personal files in the hands of the survivor’s group known as SNAP. One has to ask just how blind justice is when an organization steeped the sexual abuse of children, the Roman Catholic Church, is allowed to compel the leading advocate group for survivors of clergy abuse to turn over confidential records unrelated to the case in question.
The Roman Catholic Church is an internationally recognized promoter of child abuse having multiple documented allegations of sexual abuse in over thirty countries around the world including its home base,Italy and its home city, Rome 1998.1 In Ireland, they enslaved and abused children for years in workhouses.2 The European commission has accused the Vatican of money laundering.3 The NY Times recently reported that priests and nuns in Spain and Argentina were guilty of trafficking in babies and selling them for profit.4 That report generated a similar complaint out of Australia.5 Every grand jury convened in the United States to investigate clergy abuse and their equivalent in Ireland roundly criticized the church for their always abominable and in some cases, criminal behavior. In Germany
Based on the truths above, giving the lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church unfettered access to Snap files is the moral equivalent of giving the Mafia unlimited access to FBI files. It is simply unconscionable! Did the church take advantage of the hole created by an imprudent jurist? You bet they did. They opened a six-lane highway and lined it with dumpsters prepared to take away everything they could get away with. The proof is in the transcripts from Mr. Clohessy’s deposition. The church went back twenty-three years though the incident in question only happened recently. In six hours of deposition given by Mr. Clohessy, most of the questions had nothing to do with the case of Rev. Michael Tierney who is accused by four people of sexual abuse. The NY Times tells us, “most of the questions were not about the case but about the network — its budget, board of directors, staff members, donors and operating procedures.” Surely the jurist could have limited the scope of the deposition as has been done so many times to so many victims trying to depose church leaders.
This is an unparalleled attack on Snap and as Bill Donohue, the church’s mouthpiece, tells us; it was a centrally planned attack supported by the fact they recently filed a similar fishing expedition suit inSt. Louis Kansas City
The target of theHoly Roman Empire is David Clohessy and the organization known as SNAP. Total income for SNAP in 2010 was $352,903; probably less that than the value of almost any church property in any US
And now we are the crux of the matter, money: the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church worships at the altar of dead presidents. The clergy abuse scandal has cost them dearly and they are targeting the organization which the largest number of survivors seeking help turn to when they wish to go public. The church holds SNAP responsible for their losses. How sad that after ten years in the spotlight, hundreds of millions of dollars spent fighting the truth, and countless survivors trampled, some so badly they committed suicide, that the hierarchy has still refused to look in the mirror. They are the source of their own problems and have yet to come to grips with it. However, the laity is beginning to recognize the source of the church’s problems, which is causing the bishops more angst and money. Thus in the fashion of a cornered animal, they are lashing out.
Regardless of the outcome in eitherKansas City or St. Louis Roman Empire become. The hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church is corrupt and suffers from the same moral decay as the original Roman Empire . Lions and tigers and gladiators couldn’t stop the word from spreading two thousand years ago and it is not going to prevent the truth from seeing the light of day now.
Let those that have ears hear and those that have voices speak out against this travesty.
Reference:
1. Annett, Kevin. Open letter, Nov. 26, 2009 Retrieved from: http://signatoryindian.tripod.com/id80.html
2. http://www.icl-fi.org/english/spi/oldsite/Magdalen.html
3. http://rt.com/news/vatican-bank-money-laundering/
4. http://www.childrensprotection.info/2011/10/catholic-church-global-baby-trafficking.html
5. Ibid
6. http://firedoglake.com/2011/11/06/sunday-late-night-the-german-bishops-porn-publisher/
The Roman Catholic Church is an internationally recognized promoter of child abuse having multiple documented allegations of sexual abuse in over thirty countries around the world including its home base,
Based on the truths above, giving the lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church unfettered access to Snap files is the moral equivalent of giving the Mafia unlimited access to FBI files. It is simply unconscionable! Did the church take advantage of the hole created by an imprudent jurist? You bet they did. They opened a six-lane highway and lined it with dumpsters prepared to take away everything they could get away with. The proof is in the transcripts from Mr. Clohessy’s deposition. The church went back twenty-three years though the incident in question only happened recently. In six hours of deposition given by Mr. Clohessy, most of the questions had nothing to do with the case of Rev. Michael Tierney who is accused by four people of sexual abuse. The NY Times tells us, “most of the questions were not about the case but about the network — its budget, board of directors, staff members, donors and operating procedures.” Surely the jurist could have limited the scope of the deposition as has been done so many times to so many victims trying to depose church leaders.
This is an unparalleled attack on Snap and as Bill Donohue, the church’s mouthpiece, tells us; it was a centrally planned attack supported by the fact they recently filed a similar fishing expedition suit in
The target of the
And now we are the crux of the matter, money: the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church worships at the altar of dead presidents. The clergy abuse scandal has cost them dearly and they are targeting the organization which the largest number of survivors seeking help turn to when they wish to go public. The church holds SNAP responsible for their losses. How sad that after ten years in the spotlight, hundreds of millions of dollars spent fighting the truth, and countless survivors trampled, some so badly they committed suicide, that the hierarchy has still refused to look in the mirror. They are the source of their own problems and have yet to come to grips with it. However, the laity is beginning to recognize the source of the church’s problems, which is causing the bishops more angst and money. Thus in the fashion of a cornered animal, they are lashing out.
Regardless of the outcome in either
Let those that have ears hear and those that have voices speak out against this travesty.
Reference:
============
Bill Donohue: It’s ‘a Lot Less Expensive’ To Fight Victims Of Pedophile Priests
UNITED STATES
Think Progress
Think Progress
By Adam Peck on Mar 13, 2012
This morning, The New York Times published an article outlining the Catholic Church’s apparent new strategy for dealing with lawsuits brought by the victims of sexual assault. Namely, filing legal actions designed to cripple organizations that support victims of pedophile priests.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is the target of one such suit. The church is asking a court to force SNAP to turn over 20 years worth of email correspondence between the group and victims, journalists and whistle-blowers, a demand that SNAP officials say would cripple their ability to continue supporting victims of sexual assault.
The church would not comment to the New York Times citing a judge’s order, but radical conservative Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, had plenty of words for victims and their supporters:
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, is the target of one such suit. The church is asking a court to force SNAP to turn over 20 years worth of email correspondence between the group and victims, journalists and whistle-blowers, a demand that SNAP officials say would cripple their ability to continue supporting victims of sexual assault.
The church would not comment to the New York Times citing a judge’s order, but radical conservative Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, had plenty of words for victims and their supporters:
“[Donohue] said targeting the network was justified because “SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.” …
===
A Legacy of Pain
UNITED STATES
The New York Times
The New York Times
By FRANK BRUNI
In today’s column I wrote about Rick Santorum and American Catholicism and the church’s child sexual abuse crisis, and I wanted to circle back to that last item in this post, which is also a postscript.
I mentioned a support group for victims that’s under fire from church lawyers. That group is run by a man named David Clohessy, and if you want to understand just how much pain the crisis has caused Catholics, along with some of the ways it has tested families and challenged Catholics’ faith, his story is an instructive, heartbreaking one.
I told it in some detail in The Times’s Sunday magazine a decade ago, and provide the link here. I still vividly remember sitting with him and interviewing him, just as I still vividly remember sitting with and interviewing many people with recollections of sexual abuse by priests. Sexual abuse by any trusted adult is a shattering thing; sexual abuse by a priest or minister or other religious cleric upends a child’s every assumption about who’s safe and who’s not; where moral leadership can be found; what it means for a person to wear a badge of authority or the vestments of holiness. It says that nothing and no one is really safe.
One of the reasons the Catholic church’s child sexual abuse crisis has received so much attention over so many years isn’t, as some Catholic leaders have contended, primarily because there’s an anti-Catholic and anti-religious bias in secular society, and that nonreligious journalists are thrilling to the opportunity to humiliate the church. (Journalists thrill to malfeasance in all walks and corners of life.) It’s because of the magnitude of the violation of trust at work here. Before parents realized they should be as skeptical of a priest’s attention to their child as to anyone else’s, priests had special access to children. And priests certainly had special sway over them.
Catholic Church going after those meanie victims of rape and abuse
UNITED STATES
Hotspyer
Hotspyer
Stop menacing us with your “I was raped by a priest” complaints!
File this under oh my god:
[T]here’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.
That’s William Donohue, head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, explaining the Catholic Church’s new “get tough” strategy to silence and shut down those meanie rape and abuse victims and their advocates, by trying to bury SNAP in a barrage of costly and irrelevant legal proceedings.
That’s William Donohue, head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, explaining the Catholic Church’s new “get tough” strategy to silence and shut down those meanie rape and abuse victims and their advocates, by trying to bury SNAP in a barrage of costly and irrelevant legal proceedings.
SNAP is the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. According to the New York Times, it has three paid staff members, and its revenue in 2010 was a whopping $
Catholic Church Files Case against Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
UNITED STATES
Ms. Magazine
Ms. Magazine
Attorneys representing the Roman Catholic Church and priests who have been charged in two Missouri
Feminist Majority Foundation President Eleanor Smeal adamantly spoke out against the outrageous attempts to intimidate SNAP and compel its records, stating, "The bishops are playing hardball with survivors of priest abuse and with women's lives in fighting to limit access to contraception or abortion even in cases to save a woman's life. But the bishops are not playing hardball with worldwide priest sexual abuse. The Conference of Catholic Bishops needs to focus on stopping cleric sexual abuse and the hierarchy's cover-ups."
In the past few months, David Clohessy, national director of SNAP, and SNAP have been subpoenaed five times and questioned extensively about SNAP's operations by defense attorneys, despite the fact that SNAP is not a party in the litigation. Since SNAP refused to respond to all of the questions in the deposition or submit all of the subpoenaed documents in Kansas City 20, in attempt to compel SNAP to comply. "The effort to gain SNAP's records threatens not only survivors of priest pedophilia but also could set a dangerous precedent for victim advocates in domestic violence or other rape cases," said Smeal. Ten victims' advocacy groups filed a supporting amicus brief for SNAP saying the subpoena in unconstitutional since it violates the rights of association and would harm victims.
Church Puts Legal Pressure on Abuse Victims’ Group
UNITED STATES
another old woman
another old woman
It's time for anyone who considers themselves to be DECENT HUMAN BEINGS to LEAVE "The Most Holy roman Catholic Church" -- this from the N.Y. Times - please follow link to original.
"Turning the tables" -- another way of saying --- "in an attempt to avoid prosecution for proven wrong doing". The utter immorality of the Roman Catholic Church is stunning. These are the evil men who claim some "moral high-ground" when they attack the rights of women.
"Turning the tables" -- another way of saying --- "in an attempt to avoid prosecution for proven wrong doing". The utter immorality of the Roman Catholic Church is stunning. These are the evil men who claim some "moral high-ground" when they attack the rights of women.
I've become quite certain they know they will NOT go to hell -- they happen to know it does not exist. They also know they will not go to heaven -- because I'm sure they no longer believe in that either. They do believe in POWER. They believe in supporting the RICH.
Tax The Church is NOT enough -- break it up.
Media Release
UNITED STATES
National Survivor Advocates Coalition
National Survivor Advocates Coalition
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
The Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States have decided to take a “do as I say, not as I do” approach to the sexual abuse crisis as evidenced in the hard ball tactic of an dredging operation legal strategy against the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
We call the attention of Catholics and all men and women of goodwill to the article in today’s New York Times.
The indictment of Kansas City/St. Joseph’s Bishop Robert Finn has certainly stepped up the fear factor on the Church’s part.
With an architecture of subpoenas and depositions built with the tools of heavy handed intimidation this strategy makes a mockery of Pope Benedict’s call to “do everything possible” to aid survivors if one assumes he meant it in a good way.
The Roman Catholic Bishops of the United States have decided to take a “do as I say, not as I do” approach to the sexual abuse crisis as evidenced in the hard ball tactic of an dredging operation legal strategy against the Survivors Network for Those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
We call the attention of Catholics and all men and women of goodwill to the article in today’s New York Times.
The indictment of Kansas City/St. Joseph’s Bishop Robert Finn has certainly stepped up the fear factor on the Church’s part.
With an architecture of subpoenas and depositions built with the tools of heavy handed intimidation this strategy makes a mockery of Pope Benedict’s call to “do everything possible” to aid survivors if one assumes he meant it in a good way.
The Church’s only out is that its left hand doesn’t know what its right hand is doing. For such an organization, constituted to do good, not to introduce the left hand’s strategy to the right hand’s is a shocking failure.
Church Puts Legal Pressure on Abuse Victims’ Group
UNITED STATES
The New York Times
The New York Times
By LAURIE GOODSTEIN
Published: March 12, 2012
Published: March 12, 2012
Turning the tables on an advocacy group that has long supported victims of pedophile priests, lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church and priests accused of sexual abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel the group to disclose more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.
The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis Kansas City
The network and its allies say the legal action is part of a campaign by the church to cripple an organization that has been the most visible defender of victims, and a relentless adversary, for more than two decades. “If there is one group that the higher-ups, the bishops, would like to see silenced,” said Marci A. Hamilton, a law professor at Yeshiva University
Lawyers for the church and priests say they cannot comment because of a judge’s order. But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York
NY Times Reports on David Clohessy's Deposition, Bill Donohue Speaks of Bishops' Role in Bullying SNAP
UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage
Bilgrimage
William D. Lindsey
Interestingly enough, Laurie Goodstein reports today in the New York Times about David Clohessy's Kansas City Missouri
Goodstein also has insider information from Catholic League president Bill Donohue, who tells her that what is happening with SNAP in Missouri
Lawyers for the church and priests say they cannot comment because of a judge’s order. But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York
USCCB and Bully Bill Getting Bad Press re: Attempt to Break SNAP
UNITED STATES
Bilgrimage
Bilgrimage
William D. Lindsey
Bully Bill Donohue's gloating remarks about his insider information vis-a-vis the U.S. Catholic bishops and their current campaign to bully SNAP are not getting good press coverage in the blogosphere. I'm referring here to the statement that the Catholic League director made yesterday in Laurie Goodstein's New York Times article about the attempt to bully SNAP through hardball legal tactics in Missouri
As my posting about this yesterday (to which the first link above points) noted, Donohue told Goodstein that “the bishops have come together collectively" to fight SNAP (and, implicitly, the survivors of clerical sexual abuse SNAP defends), though he can't give Goodstein specific names of bishops about whom he's speaking. As I stated, though the USCCB media spokeswoman Sister Mary Ann Walsh denies any such concerted effort of bishops to collude in bullying SNAP in Missouri, I'm inclined to think Dohonue is boasting about insider information he really does have, since he clearly works hand and glove with the USCCB, and, in particular, with the USCCB president His Eminence Timothy M. Cardinal Dolan, with whom Donohue shares an office building.
Donohue does the dirty work the U.S. Catholic bishops don't want the public to see, so that they can pretend their own hands are clean.
And so, in a piece yesterday entitled "The Hierarchy Re-Abuses the Sex-Abuse Victims," Andrew Sullivan notes that it's increasingly difficult to support the institutional hierarchy of the Catholic church these days, and zeroes in on Donohue's ugly boasts to Goodstein, noting,
Donohue is a thug. But he is for the hierarchy what Hannity is for the GOP base. And the line about "altar boys"? Sometimes, you realize that for some Catholics, nothing has changed since the revelation of the mass rape of children, altar boys often a prime target.
Hurting Victims’ Advocates
UNITED STATES
The New York Times
The New York Times
Editorial
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, has played a critical role in making public the horrific crimes of pedophile priests and holding the Roman Catholic Church accountable for the crimes. Now the church is using a tactic that could cripple SNAP by embroiling it in costly litigation in which it is not a party.
As Laurie Goodstein wrote in The Times on Tuesday, lawyers for the church and priests accused of sex abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel SNAP to hand over two decades’ worth of e-mails and a huge amount of private correspondence with victims, lawyers, witnesses, reporters, prosecutors and the police.
The group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months and its national director, David Clohessy, deposed in the Kansas City , Mo. Kansas City
NY Times Misleads Readers, Carries Water for SNAP
UNITED STATES
The Media Report
The Media Report
Dave Pierre
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is slowly being exposed as the dishonest and mean-spirited organization that is it, and this reality appears to be upsetting the New York Times.
Today's paper (Tue., 3/13/12) has plastered a front-page article by religion editor Laurie Goodstein that is largely a sympathetic portrait of the anti-Catholic organization.
Goodstein's narrative is predictable: Big Catholic Church: bad and mean. Little-ol' SNAP: innocent and good.
Goodstein ignores SNAP's lengthy history of deception and nastiness. For example, Goodstein writes:
Today's paper (Tue., 3/13/12) has plastered a front-page article by religion editor Laurie Goodstein that is largely a sympathetic portrait of the anti-Catholic organization.
Goodstein's narrative is predictable: Big Catholic Church: bad and mean. Little-ol' SNAP: innocent and good.
Goodstein ignores SNAP's lengthy history of deception and nastiness. For example, Goodstein writes:
"[I]n 2002, American bishops met at their conference in Dallas
The Usual Suspects: NY Times, Dissident Priest Support Anti-Catholic SNAP With Falsehoods, Attacks on Church
UNITED STATES
The Media Report
The Media Report
Dave Pierre
The New York Times is again shilling for the Catholic-hating SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) with more false attacks against the Catholic Church.
Yesterday (Tue., 3/13/12), the Times plastered a sympatheic, front-page portrait of the anti-Catholic advocacy group in an apparent attempt to intimidate the Church from defending itself through the legal process. We have already exposed the dishonest nature of the article (which was written by religion editor Laurie Goodstein).
Then today (Wed., 3/14/12), the Times continued its attack with a misleading and error-laced editorial.
First, the editorial claims that the Catholic Church is "threatening to expose private files" of victims inMissouri
Yesterday (Tue., 3/13/12), the Times plastered a sympatheic, front-page portrait of the anti-Catholic advocacy group in an apparent attempt to intimidate the Church from defending itself through the legal process. We have already exposed the dishonest nature of the article (which was written by religion editor Laurie Goodstein).
Then today (Wed., 3/14/12), the Times continued its attack with a misleading and error-laced editorial.
First, the editorial claims that the Catholic Church is "threatening to expose private files" of victims in
Jeb Barrett: Catholic church playing hardball
UNITED STATES
Daily Camera
Daily Camera
JEB BARRETT
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Denver
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
I hope people are paying attention to what the Catholic Church is doing across the nation! Read Tuesday's New York Times article.
Every American should be outraged by the continuing hardball tactics of the Roman Catholic Church across the nation, as they do all they can to silence the truth of their historic sexual exploitation of children and vulnerable adults. They would like nothing more than wipe to out the most important lifeline for victims of sexual assault by clergy, so that we can now call ourselves survivors of sexual abuse. Because of what happened to us, we will never know what it would be like to have not been fondled, raped and sodomized.
The Lower Depths
UNITED STATES
Hunter at Random
Hunter at Random
That's where you'll find the Catholic hierarchy. If you ever had any doubt that the institutional Church was about anything but money and power, this should answer that question for you.
Turning the tables on an advocacy group that has long supported victims of pedophile priests, lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church and priests accused of sexual abuse in two Missouri cases have gone to court to compel the group to disclose more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.
The group, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, is neither a plaintiff nor a defendant in the litigation. But the group has been subpoenaed five times in recent months in Kansas City and St. Louis Kansas City
Of course, Bill Donohue has to stick his two cents in:
But William Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, a church advocacy group in New York
=Roman Catholic Church Attacks Sex Abuse Victims
UNITED STATES
Triablogue
Triablogue
Or, “this is your infallible Magisterium in action”. But it’s ok, you Roman Catholics. They can be reprehensible, as a group, in real life, and still, God has committed to this reprehensible group, the charism of infallibility when speaking about doctrines and morals. Rest assured that, even when your doctrines rely on mistranslations or just completely changing the meaning of Scriptures, they are completely correct, and everything else is wrong. Never mind that Jesus said, “by their fruit you will recognize them”. Never mind that Paul explicitly stated, “the overseer is to be above reproach” … and reminds Timothy, “If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?”
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, came into existence in 1989, just five years after national attention was first focused on sexual molestation of minors by Catholic clergy. The founder, Barbara Blaine, is a survivor of abuse. The national director, David Clohessy, is also a survivor. SNAP came into existence because the institutional church, i.e., the bishops, could not and would not do anything to help the victims of the priests they were supposed to supervise.
Realizing that they would have to help themselves, Barbara and the original members started what has become the oldest and most effective advocacy and help group for the countless victims of clergy abuse throughout the United States and Europe as well.
Catholic Church tired of being 'whipping boy' for that whole molesting kids thing
UNITED STATES
DailyKos
Daily
Kaili Joy Gray
This story is just gonna break your heart:
Cardinal [Timothy M.] Dolan criticized a legislative proposal that would, for a year, drop the statute of limitations for filing civil claims for sexual offenses, allowing for lawsuits by people who say they were abused long ago. The cardinal said he was concerned that a flood of lawsuits over abuse by priests could drain the church of money it is using for charitable purposes.
This story is just gonna break your heart:
Cardinal [Timothy M.] Dolan criticized a legislative proposal that would, for a year, drop the statute of limitations for filing civil claims for sexual offenses, allowing for lawsuits by people who say they were abused long ago. The cardinal said he was concerned that a flood of lawsuits over abuse by priests could drain the church of money it is using for charitable purposes.
“I think we bishops have been very contrite in admitting that the church did not handle this well at all in the past,” he said. “But we bristle sometimes in that the church doesn’t get the credit, now being in the vanguard of reform. It does bother us that the church continues to be a whipping boy.”
Aw. Poor bishops. They are just so sick and tired of being blamed for that whole covering-up-the-widespread-rape-and-molestation-of-children thing. Don't you secular ingrates understand that they can't do really important stuff—like spend $26.7 million a year lobbying politicians to pass Church-approved laws against gays and vaginas—if they have to keep paying settlements to all those molested kids?
And once you take into account all the money the Church has to spend trying to shut down Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) because, according to William Donohue, head of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, the bishops believe "they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough" because they "don’t need altar boys," why, that hardly leaves any money at all to care for the homeless pull funding from services for the homeless because its director supports marriage equality.
Catholics Fight Church’s Victims – Again
UNITED STATES
Care2
Care2
by Paul Canning
Back in January, Catholic League President and frequent Fox News contributor Bill Donohue called victims of priest abuse and their advocates and supporters a “pitiful bunch of malcontents” and “professional victims.”
Now Donahue is calling for victims to be ‘fought one-by-one’ so the church can save money.
He claims that Catholic bishops are reaching the conclusion that “they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough.” “We don’t need altar boys,” he told the New York Times.
He says he’s backing an effort by lawyers for two Missouri priests accused of abuse to subpoena email from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP
Now Donahue is calling for victims to be ‘fought one-by-one’ so the church can save money.
He claims that Catholic bishops are reaching the conclusion that “they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough.” “We don’t need altar boys,” he told the New York Times.
He says he’s backing an effort by lawyers for two Missouri priests accused of abuse to subpoena email from Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP
Bill Donahue’s Catholic League – Rapist Fr. McGuire-member # 60201
UNITED STATES
AlterNet
AlterNet
Joey Piscitelli
Bill Donahues’ Catholic League Member # 60201 MCGUO, serial molester Fr. Donald McGuire, is the most notorious Jesuit rapist on earth. Fr. Donald McGuire, who was convicted by US Feds, aided by the Dept. of Homeland Security, was jailed for the rest of his life a few years ago. But this egregious rapist is also known as Mother Teresa’s’ personal confessor, and is responsible for tainting her reputation.
Additionally, Fr. McGuire, who swam in a cesspool of disgrace for decades, and was known by the Jesuits to be a serial molester, and was allowed free reign to travel the world, has another notorious tie- to yet another famous Catholic “celebrity”.
The vocal and obnoxious leader of the Catholic League, William Donahue, who outspokenly condemned child abuse victims and advocates as “A menace to the Catholic Church”, had previously allowed the serial molester Fr. McGuire to join and donate money to his “organization”, and thanked McGuire for his generosity.
This comes as no shock, as Donahue is known by clergy abuse victims for spewing disgraceful hurtful remarks, and showing no remorse for it; in support of clergy abusers. As Mr. Donahue bragged to the New York Times that the Catholic Bishops had got together with a new strategy to fight victims of sex abuse by clergy, and continued his rant about the apparent Catholic war on rape victims and their advocates, his ego was in full swing. It is extremely difficult and sad to witness how proud he is to imply that the Catholic church will do anything possible to defeat innocent child molestation victims, and their advocates.
SNAP, the bishops and a lesson in ecclesiology
UNITED STATES
National Catholic Reporter
National Catholic Reporter
by Thomas P. Doyle on Mar. 14, 2012
Examining the crisis
Commentary
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, came into existence in 1989, just five years after national attention was first focused on sexual molestation of minors by Catholic clergy. The founder, Barbara Blaine, is a survivor of abuse. The national director, David Clohessy, is also a survivor. SNAP came into existence because the institutional church, i.e., the bishops, could not and would not do anything to help the victims of the priests they were supposed to supervise.
SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, came into existence in 1989, just five years after national attention was first focused on sexual molestation of minors by Catholic clergy. The founder, Barbara Blaine, is a survivor of abuse. The national director, David Clohessy, is also a survivor. SNAP came into existence because the institutional church, i.e., the bishops, could not and would not do anything to help the victims of the priests they were supposed to supervise.
Realizing that they would have to help themselves, Barbara and the original members started what has become the oldest and most effective advocacy and help group for the countless victims of clergy abuse throughout the United States and Europe as well.
Over the years since its existence, SNAP has done what the institutional church should have done: It offered understanding, support, solace and above all, hope for anyone who called upon it. SNAP is not a sophisticated organization with a well-oiled and financed bureaucracy. It has always been focused on providing support for victims, giving them the encouragement to begin to heal from the devastation of abuse and giving them hope, knowing they are not alone. ...
The latest and most convincing evidence of the bishops' collective failure following the present pope's admonitions is the organized attack on SNAP. This attack is being carried out by lawyers who represent two priests accused of abuse, but it's not about justice for the priests. It's about destroying an organization that represents not only a source of profound embarrassment to the bishops but a serious threat to their continued duplicity. On one hand, the demand for SNAP's files is sending a horrific message to all victims of clergy abuse and to all who try to help and support them. The message is clear: Although individual bishops might be truly sympathetic, the bishops as a group simply don't "get it." Nothing has changed since 1985, when this sordid issue first came to widespread public awareness. They are only concerned for themselves, their image, their control over the laity and their money. The National Review Board had it right when they pinpointed this in their 2004 report.
Snapping back at SNAP
UNITED STATES
Freethinker (United Kingdom)
Freethinker (United Kingdom)
THE shrill voice of Catholic outrage in the US – Bill Donohue, President of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights – has reportedly declared a “no more Mr Nice Guy” policy in relation to payouts to victims of clerical sexual abuse.
According to the New York Times, the Church is planning to turn the tables on the advocacy group, SNAP, which has long supported victims of paedophile priests, by demanding that the group discloses more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.
The ghastly Donohue said targeting the network was justified because:
Bill Donohue
According to the New York Times, the Church is planning to turn the tables on the advocacy group, SNAP, which has long supported victims of paedophile priests, by demanding that the group discloses more than two decades of e-mails that could include correspondence with victims, lawyers, whistle-blowers, witnesses, the police, prosecutors and journalists.
The ghastly Donohue said targeting the network was justified because:
Bill Donohue
SNAP is a menace to the Catholic Church.
Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group:
Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group:
The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.
The Hierarchy Re-Abuses The Sex Abuse Victims
UNITED STATES
The Daily Beast - The Dish
The Daily Beast - The Dish
Andrew Sullivan
How hard is to to support the institutional hierarchy of the Catholic church these days? This hard:
Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group SNAP, [Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests]: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”
He said bishops were also rethinking their approach of paying large settlements to groups of victims. “The church has been too quick to write a check, and I think they’ve realized it would be a lot less expensive in the long run if we fought them one by one,” Mr. Donohue said.
Mr. Donohue said leading bishops he knew had resolved to fight back more aggressively against the group SNAP, [Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests]: “The bishops have come together collectively. I can’t give you the names, but there’s a growing consensus on the part of the bishops that they had better toughen up and go out and buy some good lawyers to get tough. We don’t need altar boys.”
He said bishops were also rethinking their approach of paying large settlements to groups of victims. “The church has been too quick to write a check, and I think they’ve realized it would be a lot less expensive in the long run if we fought them one by one,” Mr. Donohue said.
Priest-Abuse Advocacy Group Under Legal Pressure in Church Suits
UNITED STATES
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
The Chronicle of Philanthropy
March 14, 2012
Lawyers for the Roman Catholic Church and accused priests in two Missouri
In recent months, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, has been subpoenaed five times in connection with cases involving theKansas City and St. Louis
Mr. Clohessy said he was deposed for six hours by church lawyers in January and called the questioning “a fishing, crabbing, shrimping, trash-collecting, draining the pond expedition” intended to “harass and discredit and bankrupt SNAP.”
In recent months, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP, has been subpoenaed five times in connection with cases involving the
Mr. Clohessy said he was deposed for six hours by church lawyers in January and called the questioning “a fishing, crabbing, shrimping, trash-collecting, draining the pond expedition” intended to “harass and discredit and bankrupt SNAP.”
SNAP pushes for public knowledge of clergy accused of sex abuse
WTMJ
ELM GROVE - Advocated for clergy abuse victims claim there could be dozens of sex offenders still working for the Milwaukee Archdiocese.
SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) held a news conference at St. Mary's Church in Elm Grove.
Fr. Lauren Wenig, who served as pastor at St. Mary's, was placed on leave after being accused of abusing a child in 2011.
SNAP wants the names of accused abusers made public.
SNAP (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests) held a news conference at St. Mary's Church in Elm Grove.
Fr. Lauren Wenig, who served as pastor at St. Mary's, was placed on leave after being accused of abusing a child in 2011.
SNAP wants the names of accused abusers made public.
UNITED STATES
Care2
by Paul Canning
January 10, 2012
Catholic League President Bill Donohue has called victims of priest abuse and their advocates and supporters a “pitiful bunch of malcontents” and “professional victims.”
He made the comments on the League’s website in response to a conference organized to mark a decade since the Boston Catholic Church abuse scandal emerged. The comments are illustrated with an image of a crying baby.
He also said that Catholics had “moved on” and were not “wallowing in negativity.”
Donohue has been criticized multiple times for comments seen as lacking any sensitivity towards the victims of abuse by the church.