Topic: Making Decisions
Jason Berry, an author who specialized very early in the issues of abusive clergy, was one speaker at SNAP that I didn't want to miss. Especially since I'd heard him before and respect his wisdom and experience.
He talked about the need to have a new approach in trying to engage the press in covering the on-going saga, in light of the fact that the press is interested in what is really news, of course. As a writer, I'm always looking for what is different in a story myself. Have heard the "same old story" many times. Survivors often do not understand that this is what moves writers and journalists and what makes the general public interested in hearing stories, as well. Just as it moves us to see movies--we all want to learn something or be entertained in a different way, one or the other. In this case, the subject matter doesn't tend to be entertaining, but it can be very interesting and instructive.
So Berry's suggestion is that we look for parallel trends to help the press expose the news. To pique interest in the large percentage of diocese that have cases of embezzlement and to compare the way this is handled or not handled, covered up or exposed. To show that this often happens in the same diocese where there have been grossly abusive priests. That's a new way to approach it.
