SNAP Delivered Letter to US Papal Nuncio in Advance of Papal Summit

Group Is Demanding Pope Francis Take Specific Action at Abuse Meeting

Australian Bishops and MPs Should Proactively Implement These Actions,

Says SNAP Australia



SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), the worlds’s oldest and largest advocacy group for victims of clergy and institutional sex abuse delivered a letter on Feb 7th to the Vatican papal nuncio in the USA, asking for Pope Francis to take five specific actions at his abuse summit, February 21 to 24, and requesting a meeting with Pope Francis.

A copy of SNAP's letter can be found here.

They are asking the Pope to take decisive actions at the papal abuse summit to be held in Rome and are sending a group of SNAP Leaders to support their requests. They are also asking for a meeting to explain why these requested actions will not only help survivors heal but also protect children by preventing future cases of abuse from happening in the first place.

In their letter, the group calls for Pope Francis to:

1. Fire any and all bishops or cardinals who have had a hand in clergy sex abuse cover-ups,
2. Impose “dramatic and punitive consequences” to deter any future cover-ups,
3. Eliminate any directive for church staff to report abuse to bishops and instead direct all church staff and officials to make reports to law enforcement,
4. Compel bishops around the world to turn their files over to law enforcement for independent investigations into their handling of clergy sex abuse cases, and
5. Order bishops and other hierarchs to cease lobbying efforts against legislative reform that would benefit survivors.

Leaders of the group will be in Rome and are hoping to meet with the Pope, but want him to show that he is taking the abuse crisis seriously by taking the actions above. In SNAP’s view, absent any decisive action on prelates who have helped keep cases of sexual violence hidden, the summit will be a failure.

Australian SNAP survivors and supporters concur with the oganisations call for actions and urge the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference to not only support the actions called for by SNAP, but pledge to implement and execute these actions this year in Australia. The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse investigation has exposed the need for these actions and the imperative that Archbishop Mark Coleridge, President of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, communicate the Conference’s support of these actions at the Pope’s abuse summit.

Similarly, Australian SNAP survivors and supporters concur with the oganisation’s call for actions and urge the Australian national and state MPs to not only support the actions called for by SNAP, but pledge to implement and execute these actions this year in Australia. Australia has gained the status of world champion for the protection of and justice for children and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse within state, public, and private institutions as a result of the Royal Commission investigation and recommendations. Australia’s legislators need to become equally recognised as champions for the protection of and justice for children and vulnerable adults from sexual abuse within state, public, and private institutions.

CONTACT: Steven Spaner, SNAP Australia Volunteer Coordinator, (snapspaner@gmail.com, +1 636-433-2511); Zach Hiner, SNAP Executive Director (zhiner@snapnetwork.org, +1 517-974-9009), Tim Lennon, SNAP President (tlennon@snapnetwork.org, +1 415-312-5820).

(SNAP, the Survivors Network, has been providing support for victims of sexual abuse in institutional settings for 30 years. We have more than 25,000 survivors and supporters in our network. Our websites are: International - SNAPnetwork.org; National – SNAPAustralia.org)