On November 10, 2021, I participated in a frank discussion about the Sexual Abuse Crisis in the Catholic Church from the Perspective of Survivors. Joining me were Kristen Ciaccia (Co-Host of The Angry Catholic Show), Shaun Dougherty (President of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP)), and Brian Cites (Associate Director, Baker -Nord Center for the Humanities at Case Western Reserve University). The event was Sponsored by the Ellacuria Inititiative held on the campus of the University of Scranton.
Because of COVID restrictions on the campus, the event was not open to the general public. I was concerned that the closed campus would stifle the discussion and prevent people from attending the event. That fear seemed to manifest itself 20 minutes before we began when I looked around the room to see only the panel, a handful of supporters, the University sponsor, and the tech guy setting up a small camera to enable a Zoom feed from the room. To my great relief, the room filled to standing room only by the 7 pm start time.
It was a great discussion. It was a difficult discussion. I invite you to watch the recording of the Zoom feed at (the link should be active through May 2022):
The University of Scranton, The Ellacuria Initiative Truth And Reconciliation (2021-2023) page.
The video for the Survivors’ Perspective Panel – November 10, 2021, is located below the poster for the event.
I am grateful to have been asked to help organize this panel at the University of Scranton with Dr. Teresa Grettano (Director of the Ellacuria Initiative) and Dr. Christian Krokus (Co-Chair of the Healing, Reconciliation and Hope Task Force 2018-2020). I am also very grateful that Kristen Ciaccia, Shaun Dougherty, and Dr. Brian Cites took time from their respective busy schedules to come together for this event. It was a great privilege to bring the perspective of survivors of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church to light during this panel discussion. I am very proud of what took place that evening.
Off My Knees - A Blog by Michael Baumann 
You are still on your knees if you are associating with SNAP. SNAP IS the church. It was created to control victims and you are supporting that conspiracy. You should be ashamed.
I guess you did not pick up on a Jesuit University hosting the panel. Ashamed? Not in the least. But, please pull out the “smoking gun” SNAP Memo and dust it off. Shaun is not an agent of the Catholic Church. I am trying to move the conversation forward. You may want to catch up.
[…] that will be available at noon on Saturday, 12 February, I was invited to come and discuss the Survivors’ Perspective panel discussion held at the University of Scranton in November 2020. I helped Dr. Teresa Grettano (Director of the Ellacuria Initiative) and Dr. Christian Krokus […]