News Briefs

Another resignation at SNAP as controversy continues

February 7, 2017 CNA Daily News 1

Chicago, Ill., Feb 6, 2017 / 05:45 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Another leader of a controversial group representing survivors of clergy sexual abuse has resigned, denying that the resignation is related to a lawsuit that claimed the group was engaged in kickbacks and other unethical behavior.

Barbara Blaine of the Survivors’ Network of those Abuse by Priests resigned effective Feb. 3, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Blaine said a lawsuit filed last month against the Chicago-based organization had no bearing on her resignation and compared it to previous lawsuits she said had no merit. She said the discussions of her departure had been ongoing and it had been a great honor to serve the organization.

“Change however is inevitable,” she said.

In mid-January former employee Gretchen Rachel Hammond, who worked as a development director at SNAP, claimed to have been wrongly fired for raising objections to what she said was a kickback scheme. The former employee’s lawsuit alleged that the organization refers them to lawyers who themselves donate to the organization. It also charged that SNAP does not provide significant counseling help to abuse victims.

The suit further charged that SNAP is motivated by its leaders’ “personal and ideological animus against the Catholic Church.”

Blaine flatly denied the lawsuit’s claims, saying: “The allegations are not true. This will be proven in court. SNAP leaders are now, and always have been, devoted to following the SNAP mission: to help victims heal and to prevent further sexual abuse.”

The lawsuit named as defendants SNAP, Blaine, past executive director David Clohessy, and outreach director Barbara Dorris.

Clohessy resigned as executive director effective Dec. 31, though the change was not widely known until after the latest lawsuit was filed. The former executive director, who had worked at the organization since 1991, also denied his resignation had anything to do with the lawsuit.

Dorris has now become managing director of SNAP.

In her resignation statement, Blaine said she founded the organization 29 years ago because a priest who had abused her remained in ministry and because she felt “immense pain” from the alleged abuse inflicted on her as an eighth grader by a priest who taught at her school.

“I knew there were other survivors out there and wondered if they felt the same debilitating hurt and if so, how they coped with it. I thought they might hold the wisdom I lacked. I looked for other survivors and asked if they would be willing to talk,” she said in a statement.

SNAP has run into other legal problems.

In August 2016 a federal judge ruled that the group made false statements “negligently and with reckless disregard for the truth” against a St. Louis priest to try to convict him on abuse charges.

The organization also sought to have the International Criminal Court investigate Benedict XVI for crimes against humanity related to alleged failures to stop sex abuse. Many critics considered the effort to be frivolous and the court rejected the request in mid-2013.

[…]

Australian bishops apologize for Church’s failure in sex abuse crisis

February 6, 2017 CNA Daily News 0

Sydney, Australia, Feb 6, 2017 / 10:32 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Days before Australia’s Royal Commission on institutional sex abuse begins their final hearing into the Church’s response to their abuse crisis, the country’s bishops have issued several statements expressing sorrow for past failures, and committing to do more to protect children.

“Deeply mindful of the hurt and pain caused by abuse, I once again offer my apology on behalf of the Catholic Church,” Archbishop Denis Hart of Melbourne, president of the Australian Bishops’ Conference, said in a Feb. 5 letter to the faithful of Australia.

“I am sorry for the damage that has been done to the lives of victims of sexual abuse. As Pope Francis said recently, ‘it is a sin that shames us.’”

The archbishop made issued the statement as Australia’s Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse begins its final three-week review of how the Catholic Church in Australia has responded to sex abuse allegations. The commission was established in 2013, and investigates the handling of child sex abuse allegations by religious groups, schools, government organizations, and sporting associations.

Australia’s sexual abuse crisis has been one of the most shocking and widely known in the Church.

In his statement, Archbishop Hart noted that during the coming hearing many of the country’s bishops and Catholic leaders will give their testimonies, explaining what the Church has done so far to change “the old culture” that had allowed abuse to continue for so long, as well as what is being done now to protect and safeguard children.

Again referring to a statement made by Pope Francis, the archbishop urged the entire Church to “find the courage needed to take all necessary measures and to protect in every way the lives of our children, so that such crimes may never be repeated.”

In a similar message Archbishop Anthony Fisher of Sydney said he personally has felt “shaken and humiliated” by what the Royal Commission has uncovered.

“The Church is sorry and I am sorry for past failures that left so many so damaged,” he said. “I know that many of our priests, religious and lay faithful feel the same: as Catholics we hang our heads in shame.”

So far the findings have been “harrowing,” Fisher said, explaining that the commission has heard the “distressing and shameful cases” of sexual abuse recounted by “courageous survivors” dating back to the 1950s.

Numbers garnered from the various testimonies gathered show that claims of child sexual abuse have been made against 384 diocesan priests, 188 religious priests, 579 religious brothers, and as many as 96 religious sisters since 1950.

Claims have also been made against some 543 lay workers in the Church, as well as another 72 persons whose religious status “is unknown.”

Among religious institutes, 40 percent of the members of the St. John of God Brothers in Australia have been accused of child sexual abuse. More than 20 percent of the Christian Brothers, Salesians, and Marist Brothers have face accusations.

In March 2015 Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Secretariat for the Economy, testified before the commission for the third time after allegations resurfaced in 2014 claiming that he moved known pedophile Fr. Gerald Ridsdale, bribed a victim of the later-laicized priest, and failed to act on a victim’s complaint. Before his appointment to the Secretariat for the Economy, Cardinal Bell had been Archbishop of Sydney

Despite having testified before the commission twice before on the same charges with no guilty verdict, Cardinal Pell voluntarily offered to testify again and, not being able to make the long flight to Australia, participated in the hearing via video-conference in Rome.

On Feb. 7, the Royal Commission will resume its public hearing on the current policies and procedures the Catholic Church in Australia has put into place regarding child protection and safety standards, including how to respond to allegations of sexual abuse.

During the hearing, Archbishop Fisher and others will be participating in a panel to discuss not only what went wrong with the Church’s response in the past, but also what can be done better in the future.

In his statement, Archbishop Fisher noted that unlike previous hearings which focused primarily on individual cases, this one will address “the big picture” with the participation of “expert witnesses” alongside both Church leaders and lay people, some of whom hail from his own archdiocese.

The commission will now focus on two primary issues: the factors led to the all the abuse cases in the Church as well as the Church’s failures to respond adequately, as well as what the Church has done and plans to do to address the problem, including by changing her programs, policies and structures.

Part of the discussion will also be dedicated to a better discernment of priestly and religious vocations, as well as the formation and supervision of those already in active ministry.

Archbishop Fisher noted that both “claims and alleged perpetrators” are referred to in the commission’s report, and that no distinction is made between claims that have been proven and those that haven’t. Neither does the report distinguish between claims substantiated by the Church in an internal investigation from those accepted by the Church without any investigation.

While statistics show that “the overwhelming majority” of sexual abuse took place in the 1950s-70s, and that abuse accusations have “declined very considerably” since, Archbishop Fisher said, “we are not complacent when it comes to child safety and to ensuring a child safe environment in the Church.”

“We recognize our responsibility to ensure that all measures are in place to prevent this happening again. We also recognize that there are abuse victims who are yet to come forward and perhaps never will,” he said, noting that to date, claims have been made against seven percent of priests ministering in the three dioceses of greater Sydney since 1950.

Archbishop Fisher noted that the coming weeks of the commission’s final hearing on the Church’s response “will be traumatic for everyone involved, especially the survivors.”

However, “confronting as it will be, I remain determined to do all we can to assist those who have been harmed by the Church and to work toward a culture of greater transparency, accountability and safety for all children.”

The archbishop voiced his conviction that when “the humiliation and purgation through which we are presently passing” is over, the Church will be more humble and compassionate Church in the area of abuse.

Archbishop Fisher voiced his gratitude for the steps already taken and acknowledged the various parishes, schools and agencies working to make the Church “a safer place.”

With media attention on the hearing expected to be high, with some reports “confronting,” Archbishop Fisher welcomed those who feel “upset or demoralized” by the coverage to speak with their parish priest, and for priests to speak with their dean or bishop. He noted that counseling services will also be available for those who need it.

He urged anyone alleging abuse to contact the police, and asked for prayers “for all those involved in this hearing for wisdom and compassion. Above all, please pray for the survivors and their families at this most difficult time.”

[…]

The story of a father who runs marathons with his disabled son

February 2, 2017 CNA Daily News 1

Madrid, Spain, Feb 2, 2017 / 12:06 am (CNA).- Most fathers like to share their hobbies with their sons. But for José Manuel this proved a challenge – given that his fourth child Pablo suffers from a severe form of cerebral palsy.

Despite this, however, José Manuel had idea.

“I don’t remember when we began to run together. I know that the first time was in the summer. I was getting ready to go out for a run, but neither my wife nor children could stay to take care of Pablo. So I decided I could take him with me,” José Manuel Roas Treviño told CNA.

Even though José Manuel said he did not know if Pablo would like the experience or not, he quickly  demonstrated that he did: “He sat up straight in the chair and when he does that it means ‘okay,’ because it takes a huge amount of effort to keep sitting up straight.”

“We were running down a nearby bicycle lane and he was totally into it, he was laughing, shrieking, lifting up his arms. I was singing to him and he was laughing more and more. And I realized that what we were experiencing was very special.”

Pablo is 18 years-old and is affected by acute cerebral palsy, which makes him completely dependent on his parents, José Manuel and Maite. He cannot speak or walk, nor he will be able to in the future. But for his parents, Pablo far from being a burden, is a gift.

“I thank God every day for Pablo and for this life story that God is having us experience. Because when he was born, a wall certainly was raised up with all the limitations that appeared, because you were presented with a terrible life.”

“But for me, I live it every day in the first person, this still is surprising. God has given us a complex life story to live but he also helps us to go forward with it and to do it with hope, with a sense of humor.”

“Because I too have looked the other way from those who had children in their cars like Pablo and my heart just recoiled.”

José Manuel recalled the time he was preparing to become a special ed teacher. One morning in November of 1988 I sat down to study and the subject was cerebral palsy. At that instant I was frightened and I remember I literally said, “My God, what am I doing? You’re not preparing me to have a child like that, are you?”

“And I was so scared that that same day I quit preparing for those exams, and I started another major.”

José Manuel does not deny that the sufferings are “enormous, more than I had ever imagined” but he stressed that “it is suffering that you get much more out of than what you lose. God is near the weak, and Pablo is certainly the weakest there is.”

“We find in him things you don’t find anywhere else such as love and forgiveness of the purest sort.”

This father also commented that “there are very hard days, like I never in my life thought of, but it’s true that afterwards you discover who you are and also who God is, which is that which makes these impossibilities possible.”

That is why he insists that despite the difficulties his faith in God is stronger, thanks to Pablo.

“Yes, it’s precisely because of Pablo that we believe in God, because we are living the impossible. We’re a normal family that gets into fights everyday, and we’ve got our things…but where Pablo is concerned, our differences end. This is what unites us the most, and so for us Pablo is a blessing, he’s what draws us together.”

In addition, José Manuel emphasized how encouraging it is to see during races and marathons everybody wants to high five him, how the people applaud him during the race course and he lifts up his hands and laughs”… and he insists “It’s a miracle that we’re living and much more so to be able to share it with him.”

So far they has run six marathons: three in Seville, two in Madrid and one in New York, and he assures there are more races left to share.

For José Manuel and his entire family, having Pablo is “a true privilege, I say it with all my heart.”

[…]