They target parish where predator once worked & ‘enabler’ works now

For five years, up to present, pastor never once called police

But he had first-hand report of his colleague’s kiddie porn & sexual misconduct

Despite multiple allegations, pedophile priest worked here until late 1990s

WHAT
Distraught about recent revelations of clergy sex crimes and cover ups by Ft. Worth Catholic church officials, clergy molestation victims will hand out fliers to parishioners as they arrive for mass.

The leaflets ask Catholics to

1. Ask their friends, family members, and former parishioners if they were hurt by abusive clergy, and
2. Prod Ft. Worth’s bishop to take real steps to deter future secrecy and sex crimes, by disciplining priests who kept silent about allegations of child molestation

WHEN
Today, Saturday, December 2, @ 4:40 pm

WHERE
Outside St. John the Apostle Catholic Church, 7341 Glenview, N. Richland Hills, TX
(A living predator priest once worked and the current pastor refused to call police about Fr. Magaldi)

WHO
Two clergy molestation victims who belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org), including a California woman who is the organization’s western regional director

WHY
In 2001, Fr. Tim Thompson (who now pastors St. John’s), heard first-hand reports that Fr. Philip Magaldi had ‘pedophilic material’ on his computer and was ‘trolling chat rooms. Every day for five years, Thompson kept quiet about this potentially criminal behavior. Now, Thompson claims it "never crossed (his) mind” that he “should call police.
Magaldi is considered by many to be Ft. Worth’s most egregious clergy sexual predator. He worked at St. John’s in the late 1990s and stayed in active parish ministry for at least eight months after a church panel deemed that he was “guilty of sexual exploitation.” In 2000, he was transferred to another parish and kept saying mass until just three months ago.
SNAP is urging Bishop Kevin Vann to discipline Thompson and three other priests who “enabled or covered up for their abusive peers or treated victims insensitively,” and to apologize for his role in the court battle to keep 700 pages of information about child sex crimes and cover ups in the diocese secret.

Defrocking a predator or two, the group feels, is not enough, and ignores the “enablers” whose complicity and secrecy kept putting kids at risk. Ignoring wrongdoing encourages more wrongdoing, SNAP members believe. That’s why victims believe that Thompson and others must face consequences.

CONTACT
Mary Grant of Long Beach, SNAP western regional director 626 419 2930 cell
David Clohessy of St. Louis, SNAP national director 314 566 9790 cell
Miguel Prats of Houston, Survivor of clergy sexual abuse 703 305-0159 cell
Barbara Dorris of St. Louis, SNAP outreach director 314 862 7688