Updated 04.22.2010
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Updated 04.22.2010 |
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New Mexico Chapter Serving those who have been sexually abused by priests, pastors, ministers, rabbis, nuns, brothers, deacons, and church/school employees/volunteers of any religious faith denomination (Catholic, Protestant, Jewish)
If you've been victimized by clergy, please know that you are not alone. You can get better. You can reach out to others who've been hurt just like you have. Together, we can heal one another. We offer support in person, (via monthly self-help group meetings in chapters across the country), over the phone, on line, and at twice-a-year national meetings. Our web site exists to direct you to those who will provide support and knowledge to all
victims of clergy abuse, to help educate the public, and to help ensure that in
future generations, children will be safe.
Web Site The New Mexico Chapter of SNAP has been assisting those whose abuse took place in New Mexico since 2002. This is the New Mexico web site for SNAP. Assistance is given to those who were abused in New Mexico. You may seek out other Regional Chapters or the National Chapter of SNAP through: www.snapnetwork.org
PEER TO PEER SUPPORT If you have been abused by someone in religious authority that is not Roman Catholic, please realize that SNAP has evolved to assist those from other faith-based denominations. We have supporters all over the United States and Canada who are thoroughly familiar with various religious leadership. They will be more than willing to assist those who have been abused by clergy.
NEW MEXICO SNAP MEETINGS Keep thinking positive thoughts.... Some positive leads are being explored in the Santa Fe area for those who would find Santa Fe more convenient for their meetings. If you know of a good place for meetings in Santa Fe, contact me with contact information. Keep thinking positive thoughts regarding the meetings. It is taking a long time but good things come with time. Please be patient a little longer! Thanks.
SNAP National Conference Chicago, Illinois (JULY 30-AUGUST 1, 2010) I will be attending this National Conference and be unavailable from July 29-August 2, 2010. This applies to email and to my cell number. If you have an emergency, please contact SNAP headquarters at the phone number listed below. (1-800-SNAPHEALS). Leave a message and someone will return your call within 24-48 hours. The Conference fee is $100 (it goes up as the dates arrive) and the room rate is $99 night. The air flights are not too expensive since there is a lot of airline competition to that city (Chicago) and it is served by two airports. I am willing to share a room with another male and absorb the entire cost of the room. Therefore, the cost is limited to ground transportation, airline fare from ABQ, and the Conference fee. If interested, contact me ASAP so that we can get things moving for the summer yearly Conference.
ROME, ITALY VATICAN DEMONSTRATION TO TAKE PLACE ON OCTOBER 31, 2010 For more information, contact the Director at the e-mail address or phone number listed below.
CONTACT INFORMATION Local SNAP representation: Steven M. Rabi, Director/SNAP New Mexico Phone: (505) 280-3369 an In Network Verizon Customer Note: This is the ONLY email address I can get chapter e-mail: NEW Email: steverabisnap@comcast.net Note: SNAP New Mexico is looking for two co-leaders (one for Albuquerque and one for Santa Fe). If you are interested, let's meet and discuss this more fully over lunch...my treat. There is a need for a female to interact and offer support to female victims and survivors in New Mexico; however, this invitation is open to any survivor. If you think even remotely that you could take on this responsibility, please let me know! Telephone me at 505.280.3369 and, if I don't answer, leave a voicemail with your first name, the best time to call you, and be sure to advise me that your call is about interest in co-leadership for New Mexico SNAP.
COMMENTARY BY NM SNAP DIRECTOR The Church’s One Foundation is Crumbling
by Steven M. Rabi, Director New Mexico Chapter of SNAP
The media is once again calling attention to the clergy sex abuse scandal and rightly so. Since the 2002 Charter implemented by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas, Texas, not much has been accomplished to make children safe from pedophile clergy. This includes sexual as well as physical abuse of children and vulnerable youth--and even vulnerable young adults. Priests, deacons, nuns, brothers, and others who routinely are placed in charge of children found themselves in a position of authority. They had the free will to do what is right or what is wrong. A significant portion of the clergy acted out their fantasies and preyed upon children.
While molestation of children does occasionally occur in the home, by parents, extended family members, or friends of the family, there is a major point that should be addressed: “loco parentis;” that is, in place of the parent. When a child is placed on a school bus, for example, the bus driver replaces the parent. When dropped off at school, the school and its staff replaces the parent until the child is returned to the parent at the end of the class day. Therefore, when a child is placed in care of the priest, nun, brother, etc, that individual replaces the parent. And that level of trust is significantly greater when placed in the care of clergy.
I have spoken with many, many victims of clergy sexual abuse over the past seven years I have been associated with SNAP (Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests) and other organizations providing assistance to victims of sexual abuse. Their sexual molestation took place at a very young age in most cases and, while many receive therapy and counseling for a myriad of disorders that can be traced back to their abuse, victims had the mechanism in place to “hide the secret” until counseling brought it to the surface. That should not be taken to indicate a repressive memory as the only reason the Roman Catholic Church scandal of clergy sex abuse is again being reported in the media.
No one is attempting to assail the Roman Catholic faithful into leaving their church of birth or those who joined the RCC because they believe it is the “one true church founded by Jesus Christ and apostolic succession.”
What bothers those with a conscience, a deeper faith, and the intellectual wisdom to sort out things, is that the Church is doing nothing to bring accountability to those who harmed children. Lip service in the form of rehearsed apologies fall way short to what is needed to bring the Church back to the point where faithful members can find credibility in its pope, cardinals, archbishops, and bishops.
The main source of this lack of accountability comes from the Vatican itself. Why did Cardinal Ratzinger keep his head in the sand when he was instructed by John Paul II to take over the files of priests whose bishops recommended laicization (defrocking)? Why hasn’t Benedict XVI answered the accusations that abuse took place in his home diocese and that an accusation has implicated his sibling brother and archbishop?
The Holy See held fast onto the rules that bishops keep their mouths shut about pedophiles among their diocesan clergy. They would trade pedophiles among themselves and tell these pedophiles that they needed to redeem themselves and keep from further offending. Yet, it has been proven that once a pedophile, always an offending pedophile.
The Roman Catholic Church has been able to “dodge the bullet” so many times over a number of centuries regarding this issue of priests who molest children and youth. They have played the game “close to the vest” and always have someone else to blame. It is no wonder why Cardinal Angelo Soldano during the Papal Mass on Easter Sunday in Rome and televised throughout the world stated support for the pope and made an intentional comment that included that he (pope) should not be “impressed with the petty gossip.” Soldano was making reference to the increasing number of victims who are now being vocal enough to gain media attention.
What Cardinal Soldano is done is held the chisel that the pope is striking at the very foundation of the Catholic Church by his own silence and the fact that he could have helped with this problem as Archbishop and “Defender of the Faith” going back to the 1980s.
Well, the wildfires are now burning and surrounding the Vatican and victims from European countries are now stepping forward. They want to be heard. They want to see major changes in the Church. They need and expect sincere consolation. They deserve financial compensation if it is warranted. For many victims, it is still their Church. Like all Catholics, they should expect answers to their questions.
The crumbling of the Church’s one foundation will continue to erode until it falls. To the naysayers, I say that all things are possible in God’s good time. Perhaps He is as disgusted and disheartened with the Catholic Church just as we mortals can only shake our heads in disbelief. Those Catholics in denial and those who support the Vatican do so because they, too, are actually so confused over the behavior of clergy.
Benedict XVI, the College of Cardinals, and the majority of bishops must be forced to resign. If it takes withholding money, so be it. It seems to be the only means to get attention of clergy from the top on down. Bishops on the local level need to ensure that the laity manage the dioceses and its priests until such time that these major changes are implemented. It may take a century or more to accomplish a total realignment of the Church with major control being afforded to the laity. The Sovereign Pontiff has no place in the 21st century. Democracy is not perfect by any means; however, the Monarchical head of the Church is not what Christ had in mind, did He?
SNAP RECENT NEWS Gallup Diocese Bishop James S. Wall will be notified that SNAP is still waiting the results of his review of more than 400 clergy personnel files to check if the diocese is in compliance with the Charter. He will be asked to explain the means of obtaining true and accurate information from religious orders that serve in the Diocese and comprise the majority of priests and nuns, both on and off the Navajo Indian Reservation. About the Roman Catholic Diocese of GallupThe Roman Catholic Diocese of Gallup is a multicultural, expansive diocese,
comprising 55,000 square miles in Northeastern Arizona and Northwestern New
Mexico. The landscape, people, and faith expression within this area are
extraordinary and unlike any other diocese in the United States and, perhaps,
the world. There are 53 parishes, 13 schools, and 5 social centers within the
diocesan boundaries—all serving approximately 58,000 Catholics among a total
population of 490,000. We are a Catholic community working for the salvation
of souls, to ease the suffering of the human condition, to witness the truth,
to help foster the overall fulfillment of life, and to spread the Gospel of
Jesus Christ.
About the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las CrucesBishop of Las Cruces Ricardo Ramirez will receive correspondence from our Chapter asking him to detail the number of complaints brought to the Diocese for the last twelve months and how many of those complaints were sent to the Diocese of El Paso, Texas, since events took place before Las Cruces, New Mexico, became a separate Diocese from the El Paso Diocese in 1982. In 1581, when the first Franciscan missionaries traveled the Camino Real through the Las Cruces Diocese, on their way to northern New Mexico, the country around them was only sparsely inhabited by semi-nomadic Indians of fragmented tribes. From 1659, the mission church of Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe at Paso del North (the Juarez of today) was the point through which most of the missionary efforts and colonizing expeditions passed. In 1620, the Bishopric of Guadalajara was divided, and the northern region including Nueva Wizcaya became the Bishopric of Guadiana, at a later date to be call Durango. Until 1730 little ecclesiastical notice was taken of this far-away region of the bishopric - it was a vast, uncharted area. Bishop Benito Crespo of the See of Durango made the first official visita in 1730; there followed other visitas in 1760, 1817, 1833, 1845 and 1850. The Sacraments of Baptism, Marriage and Burial were administered from Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe at El Paso to the early settlers of Doña Ana, Mesilla and Las Cruces by visitadores, circuit-riding priests from the mission. In 1850, with the designation of a new Bishopric of Santa Fe, a dialogue jurisdiction arose between Jean Lamy, Bishop of the new Diocese of Santa Fe, and the Bishop of Durango. On the settlement of this dispute, all of New Mexico came under the jurisdiction of the Diocese of Sante Fe. By 1852 there were churches at Doña Ana, Mesilla and Las Cruces. But at Mesilla only was there a resident priest, and until 1859, he visited the other two churches to administer Sacraments, Nuestra Senora de Candelaria de Doña Ana and Santa Genoveva de Las Cruces being considered visitas of San Albino's in Mesilla. By the '50's and '60's, there were churches also at Santa Barbara and Tularosa. And by the '80's, San Vicente's at San Vicente, now Silver City. When the Diocese of Tucson was established in 1897, southern New Mexico was included in the Tucson jurisdiction. Bishop Henry Granjon wrote in his personal journal on a pastoral visit to New Mexico in 1902 of his visit to Deming, Rincon, Las Cruces, Mesilla, San Miguel, La Mesa, Chamberino, Anthony, Tularosa and Alamogordo. At that time there was still no church or chapel in Deming, Rincon, Anthony or Alamogordo. In 1914, on the formation of the Diocese of El Paso. the New Mexico counties of Doña Ana, Eddy, Grant, Hidalgo, Lea, Luna, Otero and a portion of Sierra County came under the jurisdiction of El Paso. The establishment of the Diocese of Las Cruces in 1982 added Lincoln and Chavez counties and all of Sierra County to those New Mexican counties which had previously been served by the El Paso Diocese. The Diocese of Las Cruces has an important and rich heritage on which to build. From its early Indian inhabitants through the period of Spanish exploration and Mexican colonization to the present, the diocese has developed a special identity. The spirit of its diverse cultures in America today creates a unique ambiance for pastoral planning by Bishop Ricardo Ramirez, first bishop of the Diocese of Las Cruces.
About the Archdiocese of Santa FeNew Mexico SNAP will again reach out to the Archbishop of Santa Fe and the Metropolitan of the Roman Catholic Church for the State of New Mexico, Archbishop Michael J. Sheehan. This Chapter continuously contacts him by phone and letter arranging a meeting with him to discuss the steps--if any--that the Diocese's have implemented as new accusations and charges are brought to the New Mexico Roman Catholic Church. This meeting usually takes place prior to the SNAP Annual Conference and will be reported to members of this Chapter as the news is made available (at least monthly on this website). The Catholic Church is deeply involved in the history of New Mexico. Fray Marcos de Niza, a Franciscan, first saw the land we now call New Mexico in 1539 and reported on the rich possibilities to be found there. All the early expeditions into this "New Kingdom of St. Francis" included Franciscan missionaries, many of whom stayed behind and were martyred by the Indians once the Spanish soldiers returned to Mexico. The first permanent settlement, San Gabriel, was founded in 1598 by Juan de Onate near present day San Juan Pueblo. This settlement served as the capital of New Mexico until 1610 when the capital was relocated to its present location - Santa Fe. Prompted by legitimate grievances, the Pueblo Indian Revolt of 1680 drove the Spanish settlers out of New Mexico and killed many Franciscan missionaries. The Indians destroyed all which reminded them of the Spanish and their God. Monumental churches and convents which had been built by the Franciscans during their missionary work among the Indians were destroyed. The Spanish retreated to and settled in the vicinity of El Paso del Norte (present day El Paso-Juarez) where a mission had been established several years before. In 1692, newly appointed Governor Diego de Vargas, restored Spanish authority, both civil and religious, to New Mexico. He, along with colonists, troops, and missionaries reentered New Mexico in 1693. The new Franciscan friars who accompanied him immediately proceeded to rebuild or restore the destroyed churches, as well as to build new ones in isolated and remote villages throughout New Mexico. Episcopal jurisdiction was granted in 1797 and all the churches in New Mexico were secularized and made responsible to the Bishop of Durango. When Mexico declared her independence from Spain in 1821 the Franciscan friars lost their support and withdrew from New Mexico. This area remained part of the Diocese of Durango until 1850. On July 19, 1850, Pope Pius IX created the Vicariate Apostolic of New Mexico and appointed Father Jean Baptiste Lamy as its first Bishop. Bishop Lamy arrived in New Mexico in the summer of 185 1. His early efforts were directed to the building of more churches, the creation of new parishes and the establishment of educational and medical facilities. By 1853, the Vicariate Apostolic had become a See in its own right, the Diocese of Santa Fe, and on February 12, 1875, the Diocese of Santa Fe was elevated to an Archdiocese with Bishop Lamy as its first Archbishop. In 1869 Bishop Lamy began building a stone cathedral, to replace the old adobe church, parts of which had served the parishioners of Santa Fe since 1717 (the Conquistadora Chapel is all that remains). The new stone Cathedral was built around and over the old church, in the style of the Romanesque churches of France familiar to Bishop Lamy. By 1884 the main part of the Cathedral was finished and the old church was torn down from under it. Archbishop Lamy died on February 14, 1888 and is buried under the sanctuary floor of his beloved St. Francis Cathedral. He was succeeded as Archbishop of Santa Fe by John Baptist Salpointe. Archbishop John Baptist Pitaval, fifth Archbishop of Santa Fe, dedicated the bronze statue of Archbishop Lamy which stands in front of the Cathedral on May 23, 1915. Just as New Mexico originally extended beyond its present limits, so did the limits of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe. The territory to be covered was so immense, however, that in time the Archdiocese began dividing itself into other entities. In 1868 the Vicariate of Arizona and Colorado were created. These later became dioceses in their own right. The southernmost part of New Mexico has in the past been part of the Dioceses of Dallas and of El Paso which was created on March 3, 1914. This area is now the Diocese of Las Cruces which was created on October 18, 1982. The north western and west central portion of New Mexico became part of the Diocese of Gallup when it was created on December 16, 1939. On October 7, 1945 the Archdiocese of Santa Fe was solemnly consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary and in 1954, a Marian Year, Pope John XXIII formally crowned New Mexico's own image of the Blessed Virgin Mary, "La Conquistadora, " as queen of the archdiocese. This statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary known as La Conquistadora, Our Lady of the Conquest, was brought to New Mexico by Fray Alonso de Benevides in 1625 and has meant a great deal to all the people of New Mexico since then. In 1992, the title of "Our Lady of Peace" was added by Archbishop Robert Sanchez. The liturgical center and "cathedra" or chair of the Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe to this day remain in Santa Fe. Administrative offices of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, however, were relocated to Albuquerque by Archbishop James Peter Davis, ninth Archbishop of Santa Fe, in 1967. The administration of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe is now conducted from offices located at the Catholic Center on the West Mesa in Albuquerque. At present the Archdiocese of Santa Fe covers an area of 61,142 square miles. There are 91 parish seats and 216 active missions throughout this area.
You have read the histories of the Roman Catholic Church. Nice, if you are into American History. Too bad their web sites do not bring to the forefront the priests and other religious who have been accused, charged with the sexual abuse of children and vulnerable adults, and who now populate New Mexico's prison system. SNAP WILL CONTINUE TO FIGHT FOR PUBLIC DISCLOSURE so that those who are pedophiles are brought to justice and victims will get the healing and justice they so rightly deserve.
Regional Information: Contact: Joelle Casteix, Southwest Regional Director Phone: (959) 322-7434 Email: jcasteix@gmail.com General Information: Mailing Address: Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests;
PO Box 6416 SNAP Outreach Director: Barbara Dorris; Mailing Address:6245 Westminster Place Saint Louis, MO 63130 E-mail: SNAPdorris@gmail.com Phone: (314) 862-7688
Important Notice
This web site is the sole property of Steven M. Rabi, the Director of SNAP New Mexico. Mr. Rabi is not a member of legal profession, has no direct background or licensing as a therapist, counselor, psychologist, psychiatrist, etc. He has provided to SNAP voluntary unpaid assistance for more than six years.
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