Pope Francis & the Continuing Sex Abuse Cover-up: Conclave Watch

Details

Published: 06 May 2025

Sign up for Out-FM's Weekly Newsletter with show announcements.

Out-FM aired on May 6, 2025 on WBAI / NY 

Press play to stream or green down arrow to download mp3 file.

On May 5, Out-FM's John Riley spoke with a member of The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, known as SNAP. SNAP was established in 1989, and is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization and support group of survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their supporters. It was founded in the United States and now has a worldwide presence. John interviewed SNAP's Media Coordinator, Sarah Pearson, who joined us from Rome, Italy. She is bisexual, with preferred pronouns she/her.

Key members of SNAP's leadership team are in Rome to launch a rigorous review of the cardinals considered contenders for the papacy. While in Rome, SNAP officials, alongside international coalition partners, researchers, and other experts, are focusing on each candidate’s record in handling clergy sexual abuse cases—both in their home countries and within the Vatican hierarchy. The results, including the accusations and photographs of these cardinals, are being posted at https://www.conclavewatch.org/cardinals .

SNAP’s co-founder Peter Isely recently said, “For too long, the Catholic Church has prioritized secrecy and protection of its own over justice for survivors and the safety of children. As discussions about the next pope persist, we are making it clear that survivors and advocates will not accept a leader who has enabled abuse or shielded perpetrators. Any candidate for the papacy must demonstrate a commitment to a universal zero tolerance law for abuse.”

SNAP’s groundbreaking work, in collaboration with the Center for Constitutional Rights, successfully brought the Vatican before international legal bodies like the United Nations and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the 2010s and resulted in the first-ever case against the pope and the Vatican for crimes against children. The ICC declined to bring charges, but said it would reconsider if new evidence was presented.

In the interview, Out-FM's John Riley asked, "In the mass media, Pope Francis was often portrayed as a reformer on a panoply of church issues. How do you rate his policies against sex abuse?" Sarah Pearson responded, "The way that we've characterized his papacy, our group SNAP has called it a tragedy for survivors."

John asked, "There are 17 cardinals in the United States. But because the eligibility to vote stops at age 80, only 10 are eligible to vote. How many of those 10 have problematic histories regarding the cover-up of sexual abuse?" Sarah Pearson responded, "Well, all 10 of them."

John asked, "So would you say that these cardinals should not even vote for the next pope." Sarah: "I think if there were a bar on cardinals voting in the conclave if they had covered up abuse, it would be a very empty conclave, sadly."

Sarah discussed the record of New York Cardinal Timothy Dolan. "I am pretty familiar with Cardinal Dolan's record because I'm from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Before he was promoted to be the Cardinal of New York, he was the Archbishop of Milwaukee. The transfer of funds is a technique that the church often employs to limit their liability. So sometimes, as in the case of Milwaukee, it involved moving funds around, so there is a smaller amount of funds in the central diocean pile of money that is available. He transferred $57 million and put it in the cemetery fund. That's the money that should have gone to survivors' claims and he prevented it."

"As a result, Milwaukee has been known as one of the most difficult, prolonged, and hardest bankruptcies in the country. And the result was survivors got some of the lowest payouts on average in the entire country. I think the only ones lower were in Fairbanks, Alaska. There were survivors who got nothing. We know survivors who got $2,000. So imagine going through years of litigation in this bankruptcy court, back and forth with one of the world's wealthiest organizations [and certainly] one of the wealthiest organizations in your city. And the result of it is $2,000. That doesn't even cover a year's worth of copayment for therapy for most people. To say it's tragic is an understatement. It was incredibly demoralizing to survivors in that city. But that's not all that Dolan is responsible for throughout his career."

Sarah further discussed the other nine cardinals from the U.S. and their misdeeds, as well as the worldwide movement to stop this kind of abuse.

------------------------------------

SUPPORT THE WBAI FUND DRIVE!

March for Migrants and the Planet; and Katherine Franke on Ways to Resist Authoritarianism

Details

Published: 23 April 2025

Sign up for Out-FM's Weekly Newsletter with show announcements.

Out-FM aired on Tues., April 29, 2025 on WBAI / NY 

Press play to stream or green down arrow to download mp3 file.

Mass protest outside of NY Public Library

March for Migrants and the Planet in New York​

During a massive action on April 19, a sea of people gathered in Bryant Park and rallied on the steps of the Public Library. We estimate 10,000-20,000 people participated in the 14-block-long march. Speaking at the rally were people from migrant rights organizations and those fighting climate change. Along with highlighting those issues, the action addressed other Trump/MAGA attacks that have motivated millions of U.S. residents to get into the streets in an effort to stave off the onslaught by the fascist clique governing the country. This includes the summary deportation of hundreds of people​ without due ​p​rocess. A key organizing force was Summer of Heat, "a campaign of sustained nonviolent direct action" demanding that Wall Street stop investing in, financing, and insuring fossil fuels. It is sponsored by Extinction Rebellion and several other environmental organizations.

At the rally and march, a heartening sign was the growing evidence of intersectional thinking. For example, ACT UP/NY, an AIDS direct action group, discussed the relationship between climate change and capitalism. Other activists present discussed the survival concerns of people with HIV/AIDS in the context of attempts by the Trump administration to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. They also discussed the difficult task ahead to change the thinking of Trump’s base. We also talked about other recent protests, including the NY "Death by 1000 Musk Cuts" and the D.C. protest earlier this month against the shutdown of PEPFAR (the President's Emergency Program for AIDS Relief), where AIDS activists brought 200 coffins to the State Department.

The April 19^th rally and march was sponsored by Summer of Heat and Target Majority NYC (which is an Indivisible & Swing Left alliance). Swing Left focuses on training volunteers to register voters, phone bank, fundraise, and engage in door-to-door campaigning for Democratic candidates.

The program includes an interview with John Mark Rozendaal, a queer member of Extinction Rebellion, the direct action environmental group, discussing the origin of the march, its significance, and the importance of intersectional activism in this time of extreme reaction.

Also interviewed were a pair of artist-activists working under the name C-R-K-S-H-N-K, pronounced like Crookshank. One of them said: "I'm a wheatpaste artist. I started five years ago just when the pandemic was starting. It was a great opportunity to get outside and vent anxiety and frustration by the images that I do. Then I place them on buildings and different things. And it's good therapy for me."

Thanks to MD D'Elia for contributing audio footage of this rally.

-------------

Terminated Columbia Law Professor Katherine Franke

Interrupting the Gears of Authoritarianism

Former Columbia University School of Law professor Katherine Franke, an out lesbian, is the founding Director of the School’s Center for Gender & Sexuality Law, an executive committee member of the Center for Palestine Studies and a board member of Palestine Legal. In January 2024, Professor Franke appeared on the Democracy Now! program to discuss an attack on Columbia’s campus targeting pro-Palestinian student activists with a foul-smelling liquid that led to multiple hospitalizations. Based on that appearance, two Columbia professors filed a complaint against her claiming she had created a hostile environment for Israelis at Columbia students; she also became a target by name for Republican lawmakers in Congress, including NY Representative Elise Stefanik. When Columbia’s then-president Minouche Shafik was called to testify in Congress last April about campus protests, Stefanik grilled Shafik about Prof. Franke and two other Columbia faculty members - all three are queer. In January of this year, Prof. Franke was effectively terminated from Columbia.

On April 21, Katherine Franke posted a short video on YouTube titled Interrupting the gears of authoritarianism. We played this three-minute commentary on our program. She writes, “What kinds of smart tactical organizing should we consider in these challenging times? ACT UP's organizing offers some inspiration for today.” To learn more, she recommends checking out the film United in Anger: A History of ACT UP, whose producers, Jim Hubbard and Sarah Schulman, we have had as guests on Out-FM. Go to unitedinanger.com.

--------------

SUPPORT THE WBAI FUND DRIVE!