Sex abuse victims' group asks LCWR to address abuse by nuns

Published: 2004-07-15

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- Saying it has more than 100 members who were sexually abused by nuns, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests has asked the Leadership Conference of Women Religious to hear from abuse victims during the annual LCWR assembly in August. More than a dozen SNAP members held a press conference July 13 outside LCWR headquarters in Silver Spring, Md., followed two hours later by another press conference outside the headquarters of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in Washington. In Silver Spring they delivered a letter addressed to Sister Carole Shinnick, a School Sister of Notre Dame and LCWR executive director. David Clohessy, SNAP executive director, said the two main points in the four-page letter were: a request for time on the agenda of the Aug. 19-23 LCWR assembly in Fort Worth, Texas, for one or more victims of abuse by nuns to address the leaders of women's religious orders; and the start of "a dialogue around prevention and healing" between LCWR leaders and SNAP members.

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