SNAP or Survivors of Those Abused by Priests held a news conference outside the headquarters of the Diocese of Gary today in response to last week’s abuse lawsuit filing in Indiana.
During the news conference, members of SNAP will call on Bishop Dale Melczek to either reform his ways regarding priest sexual abuse or resign. They will also praise the courageous young man who came forward to shed light on his own abuse which happened in 2003.
In their press release, SNAP noted that three dates were key in criticizing Bishop Melczek’s stewardship of the Gary Diocese: 1)1992– Bishop Melczek, in a letter to then Cardinal Ratzinger, admits that he’s been aware of Emerson’s inappropriateness with kids since he came to Gary in 1992.2)2002 represents the year the bishops of the US, including Bishop Melczek promised to begin a new openness about child sex crimes. 3)2006 Bishop Melczek wrote a letter to all his priests in the Diocese telling them to keep silent about Emerson being defrocked by the Vatican.
The sad fact is that the survivor for whom we filed suit last week would not have been abused by Emerson if action had been taken against him a decade ago. If this is about protecting children, this kind of inaction must come to an end.