Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds to the full-page ad placed by the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in today’s New York Times:

Instead of looking at the positive reforms made by the U.S. bishops over the last decade, the professional victims’ lobby SNAP is rehashing its age-old claim that there is an ongoing abuse crisis in the Catholic Church. Never mind that in the last three years, an average of seven new credible accusations were made against over 40,000 priests in this country. Indeed, 99.98% of Catholic priests did not have a credible accusation made against them last year.

The John Jay College of Criminal Justice issued its Causes and Context study last year that found the abuse scandal ran from the mid-60s to the mid-80s, peaking in the 70s. After it was published, I issued a report analyzing the study [click here]. Since the end of the scandal, the Church has reformed its policies and curbed the problem, thus becoming a model of how to protect children.

Don’t let SNAP’s ad fool you. While they purport to be concerned with the safety of children, their real agenda is to sunder the Catholic Church. Last year its annual conference turned into a Church-bashing event. How do we know this? We had trusted sources attend and fill us in on the rhetoric [click here to see our report].

Earlier this year, SNAP’s director David Clohessy, was deposed regarding his role in priest abuse cases and what was disclosed was truly revealing [click here to see our report]. SNAP, the bastion of child protection, contributed $593 in 2007 to “survivor support,” yet spent $92,000 the following year on travel. Clohessy even admitted to giving false statements to the press—so why would anyone believe what he is bandying about in today’s Times?

Where today’s scandal truly lies—and one that SNAP is partly responsible for—is the false accusations made against many priests. SNAP’s attempt to resurrect itself by cashing in on old problems will fail. Indeed, they have disgraced themselves again.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on those who continue to defend the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP):

Last week we released a report on SNAP that showed beyond a reasonable doubt what an utter fraud the organization is (click here to read it). It was not an essay; it was not an op-ed; it was not conjecture; it was not our opinion. It was the voice of David Clohessy, the director of SNAP. When coupled with our report last summer on the proceedings of its national convention (it offered irrefutable proof of its hate-filled agenda) it cannot be maintained by any serious observer what SNAP is all about.

The credibility of those who continue to defend this wholly discredited organization is on the line. That would include the editorial board of the New York Times and the Newark Star-Ledger (the latter offered a particularly vicious statement), as well as pundits such as Andrew Sullivan. That the near-moribund National Organization for Women and the Feminist Majority should weigh in is not surprising: though SNAP has nothing to do with women’s rights, it has everything to do with attacking the Catholic Church, and that is music to the ear of radical feminists. But it is Frank Bruni, an op-ed columnist for the New York Times, who needs to be answered more than anyone; he loves SNAP.

Bruni notes that “some Catholic leaders have contended” that what drives wide media coverage of the issue of priestly sexual abuse is “an anti-Catholic and anti-religious bias.” Wrong, he says, it’s because of the “magnitude of the violation of trust.” No, sir, it isn’t. If it were, then the Times would be covering the incredible explosion of child sexual abuse by rabbis (in Brooklyn alone, 85 arrests have taken place in the last two years, yet the Times has never reported on any of this). Moreover, the media treat with a yawn the alarming rate of child sexual abuse in the public schools. So what else, if not anti-Catholicism, would be driving the disproportionate coverage? I’m still waiting for the evidence that I am wrong.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue responds to today’s editorial in the New York Times on the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP):

We now know from the deposition of SNAP director David Clohessy that he has been (a) lying to the media about his work (b) falsely advertising his group as a rape crisis center (c) working with unseemly lawyers (d) exploiting his clients by providing unauthorized “counseling” services (e) ripping off those who are truly in need of help by failing to contribute even a dime for licensed counselors, and (f) pursuing priests on the basis of legal criteria he admits he cannot explain.

Furthermore, we know from two people who went undercover last summer to a SNAP conference in the D.C. area that the Catholic Church is regarded by these activists as “the evil institution.” Yet when the bishops finally decide to play hardball, they are slammed by the New York Times!

When the Times is sued, does it hire wimpy lawyers? Does it allow itself to be a punching bag? Not on your life: they hire the most aggressive attorneys they can buy. But when the bishops follow suit, they’re accused of not showing “reconciliation” for the victims.

The New York Times needs to get it straight: when rapacious activists and lawyers, motivated by revenge—not justice—seek to bleed the Catholic Church by using methods that are unethical at best, and illegal at worst, then it is only fair that the bishops take a page out of the New York Times playbook and defend themselves. With vigor.

On January 2, David Clohessy, the president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), was deposed in Missouri regarding his role in cases of priestly sexual abuse. The deposition was recently made available [click here]; Catholic League president Bill Donohue has written a report on it, SNAP UNRAVELS [to read it, click here]; it is being mailed to the bishops today.

Donohue summarizes his report as follows:

David Clohessy claims that he doesn’t have to turn over most of the requested documents, or answer many of the questions. Why? Because SNAP is a rape crisis center, and therefore its confidentiality is protected under Missouri law. But when asked directly if SNAP is a rape crisis center, he said, “I don’t know.” He also admitted that he doesn’t know what constitutes a rape crisis center in Missouri.

Clohessy counsels alleged victims of abuse for a living, yet he admits to having no training whatsoever. He confessed that he does his unlicensed counseling in places like Starbucks; he also “consoles” his clients over the phone. Furthermore, there is not a single employed licensed counselor on SNAP’s staff. Moreover, he could not state a single instance where SNAP has paid for a licensed counselor to counsel a specific person.

Clohessy refused to disclose the source of his funding. He said he was wholly unaware that SNAP was mandated by federal law to contribute to charities. It was revealed that SNAP spent a grand total of $593 in 2007 on “survivor support”; the following year, it spent $92,000 on travel.

When asked how SNAP could get its hands on lawsuits against the Catholic Church before they were even filed, he refused to answer. He also said that aside from SNAP founder, Barbara Blaine, he did not know the full names of those on his staff. When asked if he ever gave false statements to the press, he didn’t blink. “Sure,” he said.

Even if Clohessy started out as an activist for justice, it is crystal clear that he has evolved into something altogether different.

The weekly St. Louis alternative newspaper, Riverfront Times, published an exchange today between reporter Nicholas Phillips and David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).

Clohessy is quoted as saying the following about St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson: “Archbishop Carlson and his brother Catholic bishops have hired, hidden, transferred, defended and enabled child molesters. SNAP hasn’t. Carlson and his colleagues have ignored and concealed their crimes. SNAP hasn’t.”

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

I will leave it to Archbishop Carlson’s lawyers to respond to Clohessy, but I cannot allow the SNAP director to lie about his own personal involvement in the cover-up of a known child molester.

In the 1990s, David Clohessy knew about his brother Kevin’s sexually predatory behavior and never called the cops. Yet he has the audacity to condemn others for not doing what he manifestly refused to do when he learned that his brother, a priest, was abusing young men. The SNAP director said at the time, “he’s my brother; he’s an abuser. Do I treat him like my brother?” Well, Mr. Clean, accused priests are the brothers of their bishop, so what would you say to both parties?

Dr. Steve Taylor is a psychiatrist who is sitting in prison for downloading child pornography from his computer. He is well known to SNAP—he was one of their go-to shrinks for years. Indeed, the convict is so well loved by SNAP that the founder of the organization, Barbara Blaine, intervened on his behalf and wrote to the Louisiana State Board of Medical Examiners pleading with them to cut Taylor some slack.

In other words, SNAP has hired, hidden, defended, enabled, ignored and concealed the crimes of child molesters.

Contact: SNAPclohessy@aol.com

On January 2, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), David Clohessy, was deposed for going public with information he allegedly obtained from a lawyer in violation of a court gag order issued by Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle. Barbara Dorris, another SNAP officer, has also been served with a subpoena.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on an editorial in today’s St. Louis Post-Dispatch on this issue:

SNAP has been working in concert with its legal allies and media buddies for decades. The goal? To discredit the Catholic Church. At one time, we even thought SNAP officials were honest brokers, but those days are long gone; our inside report on the SNAP conference held last July demonstrates its anti-Catholic agenda [click here].

The Post-Dispatch is so exercised by the right of St. Louis Archbishop Robert Carlson to fight back against SNAP that it is beckoning Catholics to rebel at Mass this weekend by refusing to put money in the collection basket. Does it really think it has that kind of clout? Yet it weeps for its Catholic-bashing friends by arguing that the litigation “has strained SNAP’s finances.” It should instead ask why SNAP’s lawyers who grease the operation aren’t writing checks, or taking the case pro-bono.

We noticed, too, the cheap shot at Judge Mesle: she is described as “a minister’s daughter.” So how many reporters at the paper were raised by committed atheists? How many have a liberal rabbi as their father? How many were born to an unwed mother?

The online story in the Post-Dispatch shows a picture of SNAP officials protesting outside the Vatican on March 25, 2010. Thus does it unwittingly make our point: SNAP, always consorting with its lawyer and media allies, knew to be there the day the New York Times broke a “scandal” story. But perhaps the Post-Dispatch believes they were there on a retreat.

Contact the editorial page editor, Gilbert Bailon: gbailon@post-dispatch.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments on the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), David Clohessy, and its outreach director, Barbara Dorris:

Yesterday I said, “[David] Clohessy never tires of lecturing the Catholic Church on the need for transparency, yet when he is in the hot seat he rebels.” I was referring to his anger at being subpoenaed to testify in a St. Louis court on Monday regarding public statements he made that were allegedly taken from lawyer Rebecca Randles in violation of a court gag order. Now Clohessy is justifying a double standard.

“We believe that there are two standards of transparency,” Clohessy said. He maintained there is one standard for “institutions that have enabled thousands of pedophiles,” and another for “organizations that enable kids to be safer and expose heinous crimes.” In other words, there should be one standard of justice for the Catholic Church, and another for SNAP.

A defense lawyer seized the moment. He noted that Clohessy wants bishops to suspend accused priests “the minute they are sued for abuse.” Accordingly, he then asked, does this mean SNAP should close its doors immediately if it is sued for defamation or libel? Clohessy flatly said, “No.” Interestingly, Clohessy refused to answer many questions during his deposition, complaining that “Church defense lawyers will likely ask that we be found in contempt of court and possibly fined or possibly jailed.” Reporters described him as looking “shaken and teary-eyed.”

Barbara Dorris is so contemptuous of priestly rights that she scoffed at the idea that an accused priest “has the same legal rights as any citizen.” She plainly said, “But of course, he doesn’t.” She then made the inane comment that a priest cannot marry or work at an abortion clinic (as if the civil law prevented him from doing so). But we know what she meant.

Looks like SNAP has snapped.

Contact Clohessy: SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Yesterday, the director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), David Clohessy, was deposed in St. Louis regarding allegations that he issued news releases based on information contained in legal documents from attorney Rebecca Randles; those documents were subjected to a gag order last August by Jackson County, Missouri Circuit Court Judge Ann Mesle.

Lawyers for Rev. Michael Tierney and the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph are seeking internal documents and correspondence from SNAP; Clohessy may have to turn over 23 years worth of such information. Judge Mesle ordered Clohessy to comply with her ruling because he “almost certainly has knowledge concerning issues relevant to this litigation.” An appeal by SNAP to the Missouri Supreme Court failed, thus forcing Clohessy to testify.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

This is just the beginning. The Catholic League has long charged that there is an incestuous relationship between SNAP and attorneys like Rebecca Randles; she is a protégé of Jeffrey Anderson, and both have been feeding and greasing SNAP for decades. It’s now time to blow the lid on this scam and get to the bottom of it.

Clohessy never tires of lecturing the Catholic Church on the need for transparency, yet when he is in the hot seat, he rebels. That is why he is having a press conference today in St. Louis blaming the Catholic Church for playing hardball. We’re delighted the Church is taking a tougher stance. The anti-Catholic activists at SNAP are so shaken by these events that one of its staffers has accused the Missouri Supreme Court of “an unprecedented, bullying maneuver” for simply enforcing the law.

Talk about turning the tables! What a great way to start the new year.

Contact Clohessy: SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn has agreed to meet on a monthly basis with Clay County prosecutor Daniel White to discuss any potential cases involving the sexual abuse of minors; this will be ongoing for five years. In return, he will not face prosecution on a misdemeanor regarding the behavior of Fr. Shawn Ratigan, who was under his employ.

Still to be settled are the misdemeanor charges brought by the prosecutor in neighboring Jackson County.

Catholic League president Bill Donohue commented on this today:

In an ideal world, there would have been no charges whatsoever: there was no complainant and no violation of law. Quite unlike the Penn State situation, where alleged victims have come forward, no one has come forward in this case. Prosecutors have to be careful not to set the bar too low, because otherwise they will need an army of attorneys to police cases of suspected molestation that occur in public, as well as private, institutions.

The Catholic haters are already fuming. David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP), says, “Nothing deters white collar crime like jail time, and nothing exposes a cover-up like a trial. But neither is happening.” But there was no crime and there was no cover-up: the Diocese contacted the authorities after Fr. Ratigan violated its own strictures; it even asked for an independent investigation.

Not only was there no cover-up, the only reason anyone knows anything about this case is because the Diocese voluntarily decided to call the cops. This is quite unlike the situation where Clohessy refused to call the police in the 1990s when he learned that his own brother was a child molester. It is Clohessy who belongs in jail—he has never paid for his cover-up, yet he has the audacity to point fingers at Bishop Finn, an innocent man.

Contact Clohessy: SNAPclohessy@aol.com

Catholic League president Bill Donohue comments as follows:

Yesterday, the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held a press conference in front of the Catholic Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to bring attention to a case involving an Episcopal priest, Bede Parry, who is being charged with molesting young boys while he was studying to be a Catholic priest. Parry was thrown out of the Benedictines of Conception Abbey in Missouri back in 1990; then he left for Las Vegas; eventually he became an Episcopal priest there. The person who knew about his record of abuse and still allowed him to join the clergy of the Episcopal Church was the Episcopal Bishop of Nevada, Katharine Jefferts Schori; today she is the Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church of the U.S., located in New York City

The Kansas City Star, which has been relentless in its pursuit of clergy abuse by Catholic priests, said absolutely nothing about this case today. Is this because it involves another religion? Or is it because it implicates a woman clergyperson, thus getting in the way of the contrived narrative that Catholic bishops have some kind of special “old boy” network that inhibits them from being forthcoming? No matter, to think that the person who is the head of the Episcopal Church in the U.S. is named in a cover up involving the sexual abuse of minors—and isn’t even mentioned in the Star—speaks volumes about its politically driven agenda against Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph Bishop Robert Finn.

Then there is the politics of SNAP. Can anyone believe that SNAP would hold a press conference in front of a Jewish synagogue about a case involving the sexual abuse of a minor committed by a minister? So why did it pick the most prominent Catholic cathedral in the Diocese for its press conference, especially when the issue has nothing to do with the Diocese? (Parry was never a priest there—he was an order priest.)

Contact Star publisher Mi-Ai Parrish: mparrish@kcstar.com