Clergy abuse survivors 'tired of talk,' stand outside diocese, demand action

Brandie Kessler | York Daily Record

Show Caption Hide Caption 'Words are meaningless to me': Victims demand action, not words Representatives from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) held an event to demand reform from both the church and legislators.

Becky Ianni raised her voice outside the Harrisburg diocese offices in Lower Paxton Township Monday afternoon, fighting to be heard above the steady flow of traffic that roared past.

Ianni and two others with SNAP -- the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests -- stood outside the diocese offices as a show of support for other survivors after last week’s historic grand jury report was released.

The report referenced more than 1,000 childhood clergy sexual abuse survivors and estimated the actual number of victims to be in the several thousands.

The fight to be heard is one Ianni is used to as a survivor of clergy abuse, waiting decades for justice. Ianni was abused from the ages of 8 to 12 by a priest named William Reinecke. Now 61, she first disclosed the abuse when she was 48.

The abuse can never be undone, but Ianni wants those who abused and those in leadership who looked the other way or enabled it to be held accountable.

More: Pa. grand jury report: Details of how Harrisburg bishops 'enabled the offenders'

She and two others, survivor Mary Corzine, of Silver Spring, Maryland, and SNAP supporter, Maureen Roden, of Severna Park, Maryland, came to Harrisburg to raise their collective voices and ask the church leadership to stop talking and instead take action.

Roden held a list several feet long with the names of dozens of Harrisburg diocese priests referenced in the grand jury report printed on it. Corzine held photos of former Harrisburg diocese bishops and the current bishop, Ronald Gainer.

Ianni, the Washington, D.C./Virginia director of SNAP, talked about reading Pope Francis’ response to the grand jury report Monday morning. She said she's tired of the lip service.

“As a survivor, I’m tired of talk,” Ianni said, adding “Words are meaningless.”

Three things she wants Pope Francis to do:

Demand that every bishop and cardinal post the names of all accused clerics

Demand every bishop and cardinal support statute of limitations reform, including a retroactive window that would allow victims some recourse, instead of trying to block it

Fire every single bishop who was complicit, “not accept their resignation, but to fire them publicly"

Ianni said SNAP volunteers will be at the five other dioceses investigated by the grand jury, making similar statements and demanding action.

Even if Pope Francis doesn't call on each diocese to do more, she said leadership at each diocese could still act. She acknowledged that the Harrisburg diocese released a list of clerics accused of abuse prior to the grand jury report being published.

That was helpful, she said, but it happened shortly before the grand jury report was made public, and there's more Bishop Gainer can do, she said.

"SNAP wants the Harrisburg Catholic officials to voluntarily disclose to the pubic those who enabled and hid these crimes, to discipline them and denounce them," Ianni said.

And for her fellow survivors, especially those who haven't yet come forward to report or to get help, Ianni's message was simple:

"You are not alone."

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's office set up a hotline for anyone who wishes to report clergy sexual abuse. The number is 888-538-8541.

More: Survivors of priest abuse flood Pa. hotline 'to tell their stories and seek justice'