What:
After a new conference outside the largest annual meeting of Catholic nuns, victims of sexual abuse by priests and sisters will
- discuss reforms they seek to prevent future clergy sex abuse
- try to hand deliver a letter to nun officials urging them to
- let victims speak to national meeting,
- work harder to find and help men and women who have been sexually assaulted by nuns.
They’ll also prod any one who experienced, witnessed or suspected abuse by nuns and other Catholic officials to come forward and get the help they need and deserve, but contact secular, not church authorities.
When:
TODAY, Thursday, Aug. 17, 2:30 p.m.
Where:
Outside the Hyatt Regency Atlanta (where hundreds of Catholic nuns are meeting) 265 Peachtree Street (404-577-1234) in Atlanta
Who:
Six clergy sexual abuse victims who lead a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, including a man and a woman who were molested by nuns, a former nun, and the organization’s national director
Details:
Victims are concerned that, despite the considerable public attention given to priests’ sex crimes and bishops’ complicity, child sexual abuse by nuns remains largely hidden. It is even more difficult, SNAP leaders feel, for any victim of sexual abuse by a nun to come forward. Still, the group is hearing from more and more such victims and predicts this trend will continue long into the future.
Recent research (including a study by Kaiser Permanente) indicates that female sexual predators are more common than previously thought and that they target both girls and boys.
In 2004, officials with the nuns' group, The Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR), met once with SNAP leaders but rejected victims’ suggestions for prevention and healing. The nuns have made no real attempt to reach out to innocent children or vulnerable adults who were molested by nuns.
The LCWR is the association of the leaders of congregations of Catholic nuns. It has roughly 1,000 members and represents about 95% of the 75,000 Catholic sisters in the US. SNAP is the nation’s largest and oldest support group for clergy molestation victims.
Contact:
Mary Guentner of Milwaukee, WI, SNAP Milwaukee Co-Director (414) 418-3191
Steve Theisen of Hudson IO, SNAP Iowa Director (319) 231-1663
Ann Brentwood, Knoxville TN, SNAP Southeastern Director (865) 607-6119
David Clohessy, St. Louis, MO, SNAP National Director (314) 566-9790 |
