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SNAP Press Release, May 12, 2010
Victims want
action on year-old abuse case
Church has been silence since cleric was
ousted
Survivors of clergy abuse form local self help group
It
blasts Pittsburgh for article defending the Pope recently
SNAP urges top
church officials to post names of predators on website
WHAT
After
a sidewalk news conference, clergy sex abuse victims will hand-deliver a letter
to the Pittsburgh Catholic bishop urging him to
--publicly disclose the
outcome of a church investigation into alleged child sex crimes against a
Charleroi priest who was accused a year ago of molesting a child,
--post
on the diocese website the names and whereabouts of all proven, admitted and
credibly accused abusive priests, nuns, seminarians, brothers and lay employees,
and
--give the victims' group 'equal time' in the local Catholic
newspaper and on the diocesan website to rebut what they consider "an especially
callous and disingenuous" defense of the Pope's cover up of child sex
crimes.
The victims will also
-- announce the formation of a
support group for clergy sex abuse victims and their loved ones in Pittsburgh,
and
-- urge anyone who saw, suspected or suffered clergy sex crimes to
come forward, call police, expose wrongdoers, protect kids and start
healing.
WHEN
Wednesday, May 12th, 1:30
pm
WHO
Two-three individuals who are clergy abuse victims or
supporters and who belong to a Chicago-based support group called SNAP,
(Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests), including a St Louis woman who
is a former Ohio Valley resident and is now the organization's Midwest Associate
Director.
WHERE
Outside the diocese chancery office, 111 Blvd. of
the Allies (corner of Market St.) in Pittsburgh,
PA
VISUALS
The group will hold signs and childhood
photos.
WHY
Last June, Fr. David Dzermejko was suspended from
Mary Mother of the Church parish in Charleroi because of credible allegations of
child sexual abuse. But as best SNAP can tell, Pittsburgh Bishop David A. Zubik
has since been silent about Dzermejko. The group believes citizens and Catholics
deserve to know his whereabouts and the status of that probe. SNAP also wants
Zubik to work harder to find others who may have been hurt by
Dzemejko.
The group is asking Zubik for equal time in the diocesan
newspaper, to present what it calls a "more balanced view" of evidence and
allegations that the Pope has ignored or concealed child sex crimes. SNAP
believes Zubik can and should defend his boss in ways that don't upset,
intimidate and discourage others who have been molested from speaking up,
exposing predators and getting help.
Also, for the sake of public safety,
SNAP wants Zubik to post on his diocesan website the names, photos and
whereabouts of all proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting
clerics. Roughly 20 US bishops have done this.
http://www.bishopaccountability.org/. It's the least any bishop who wants to
protect kids should do, SNAP feels.
Regardless of what Zubik does or
doesn't do, SNAP is establishing a confidential, independent support group in
Pittsburgh for men, women and kids who have been sexually violated by clergy at
any age and in any denomination. SNAP uses a self help model, and has similar
groups that meet on a regular basis in 65 cities across the US and in five
foreign countries. SNAP's goal is to heal the wounded and protect the
vulnerable.
Dzermejko was ordained in 1974 and worked at churches in
Natrona Heights, Perrysville and Penn Hills.
(SNAP, the Survivors
Network of those Abused by Priests, is the world's oldest and largest support
group for clergy abuse victims. It has been around for 22 years and has more
than 9,000 members across the world. Despite the word "priest" in the title,
SNAP helps people who were molested by religious figures of all denominations,
including nuns, rabbis, bishops, and Protestant
ministers.)
Contact:
Judy Block Jones, SNAP Midwest Associate
Director, 636 433 2511
Steven Spaner, of St Louis SNAP, 314- 994
3534
David Clohessy, SNAP National Director, 314 566 9790 cell, 314 645
5915
Barbara Dorris, SNAP Outreach Director 314 503 0003 cell
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