New lawsuit says current pastor is a child molester
As a young boy, victim wrote top church official about him
Cleric has been publicly accused of abuse three times before
Still, he heads a parish right now & has never been suspended
SNAP: “It’s one of the most egregiously mishandled cases ever”
Victims challenge new St. Louis archbishop to “oust the priest now”
SNAP also wants Rozanski to “protect kids by reading every abuse report”
And it urges him to “do more to warn parents about most dangerous dozen”
“Rozanski must add religious order abusers to official archdiocesan list,” group says
WHAT
Wearing masks and socially distancing while holding signs and childhood photos at a sidewalk news conference, a few clergy sex abuse victims and their supporters will
—announce a new child sex abuse and cover up lawsuit against a priest who is still a pastor now despite three earlier abuse reports from men who don’t know one another,
—beg St. Louis’ new archbishop to immediately suspend the cleric, and
—lay out three specific steps the new archbishop should take now to help protect kids.
WHEN
Monday, Aug. 24 at 1:15 p.m.
WHERE
On the sidewalk outside the “new” cathedral, 4431 Lindell Blvd, (corner of Newstead) in the Central West End in St. Louis
WHO
Three-four adults who were sexually abused as kids and belong to a support group called SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAPnetwork.org)
WHY
1—-For the safety of kids, SNAP wants incoming Archbishop Mitchell Rozanski to
** add dozens of religious order predator priests who molested and/or worked in St. Louis but are not the archdiocesan ‘credibly accused’ list,
** aggressively warn parents, police and the public about the SNAP’s “Most Dangerous Dozen” credibly accused child molesting clerics who walk free in and around St. Louis”, and
** personally read every single accused cleric’s file and make sure all cases are being handled properly.
This is crucial because when abuse cases arise, new bishops often claim they weren’t told about earlier reports. In his last diocese, Rozanski recently admitted “chronic mishandling” of a case against one of his predecessors. “In almost every instance we have failed this courageous (victim),” Rozanski said, but only after he was prodded to re-examine the case by journalists and victims.
https://www.gazettenet.com/Velis-issues-report-to-Catholic-Diocese-of-Springfield-34909176