SNAP Oregon
Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Abuse victims ask church for outreach, full disclosure
Letter to Portland Archbishop Vlazny
A
message from clergy sex abuse victims
to the Archdiocese of Portland, OR
SNAP Oregon responds
to the Archdiocese of Portland's
Declaration of Bankruptcy
Portland's
Archbishop, John G. Vlazny, announced his decision in a letter to parishes.
"Today I am doing something I hoped I would never have to do," he wrote.
At a news conference later, he told reporters: "The pot of gold is pretty much
empty right now."....
An attorney who represents a
dozen victims in Portland, and David Clohessy, national director of the
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests, both said they were skeptical
about Vlazny's claims of lacking money.
"The statement that is about a pot of gold is so repugnant and so insulting.
This is a criminal proceeding. We're dealing with an organization that tolerated
the raping of children and covered it up, and now they are acting as if they are
the victim. It is reprehensible," Portland attorney David Slader said in a
telephone interview.
Clohessy said that "every diocese" has withheld a detailed accounting of its
assets. He said the church lacked credibility to claim poverty.
"We just have to remember the bishops who cry bankruptcy are, by and large, the
same men who said things like, `No, we don't have abuse cases in this diocese'
or `No, we don't cover them up.' The onus to show they're being honest at this
point clearly falls on them," Clohessy said.
-- reported by Larry Stammer, The Los Angeles Times, July 6, 2004
It was 2,000 years ago, but Jesus' words
have never rung truer than they do today.
As quoted in the New Testament, Matthew 18:5-6, he said that whoever harms a
child should have a "heavy millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in
the depth of the sea." Now those words have become the basis for the nation's
first memorial to victims of sexual abuse by priests.
Information, Support,
and Healing
Suggestions for Healing Oregon
Survivors
Survivors respond to Archbishop
Vlasny's "Healing Services"
Will State Legislatures Stand Up to the Catholic Church,
and Pass Strong Anti-Child Abuse Laws?
Bill Crane responds to
Archbishop Vlasny's recent article in the Catholic Sentinel
News Articles on Clergy Sex Abuse in Oregon
Links to other sources of information
How can I join and support SNAP?
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
SNAP is a 501(c) 3 tax-exempt organization, and all donations are tax-deductible.
