David G. Clohessy (born c. 1956) is known as an American activist and leader for victims of clergy abuse. He served for more than two decades, until December 2017, as the executive director and spokesman for the Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP). He remained on the board after his resignation. Based in Chicago, SNAP is the largest and oldest national self-help group for victims of clergy molestation in the United States.

Biography

Clohessy was reared as a Catholic. His brother Kevin became a priest. After lower school, Clohessy studied at and graduated in 1978 from

Drury University Drury University, formerly Drury College and originally Springfield College, is a private university in Springfield, Missouri, United States. The university's mission statement describes itself as "church-related". It enrolls about 1,590 undergr ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. After college, he began work as a

union organizer A union organizer (or union organiser in Commonwealth spelling) is a specific type of trade union member (often elected) or an appointed union official. In some unions, the organizer's role is to recruit groups of workers under the organizing ...

for the

Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now The Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) is a left-wing community-based organization that advocates for low- and moderate-income families by working on neighborhood safety, voter registration, health care, affordable hou ...

(ACORN). He has also worked as a public relations director. He has been based in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

. His work included serving on the staff of St. Louis Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr.

Sexual abuse by clergy

Clohessy has said that he was the victim of sexual abuse as a teenager (from 1969–1973) by priest Fr. John J. Whiteley, in the

Roman Catholic Diocese of Jefferson City The Diocese of Jefferson City () is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory, or diocese, of the Catholic Church in the state of Missouri in the United States. It is a suffragan diocese in the ecclesiastical province of the metropolitan Archdioces ...

. He began to work on this issue as an activist in the late 1980s, when other victims of clergy abuse began to speak out. In 1989 Survivor's Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) was founded by

Barbara Blaine Barbara Ann Blaine (July 6, 1956 – September 24, 2017) was the founder in 1988 and president until February 2017 of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a national advocacy group in the United States for survivors of clerica ...

. Clohessy was one of four abuse survivors to speak to the full US Conference of Catholic Bishops at its June 2002 meeting in Dallas, which attracted thousands of journalists and at which the US church's first nationwide policy on

child sexual abuse Child sexual abuse (CSA), also called child molestation, is a form of child abuse in which an adult or older adolescent uses a child for sexual stimulation. Forms of child sexual abuse include engaging in Human sexual activity, sexual activit ...

was adopted. Since his years of adult activism against clergy abuse, Clohessy has struggled with the fact that in 2002 his brother, Father Kevin Clohessy had "a credible accusation" against him for being inappropriate sexually while a priest. His brother has since voluntarily left the priesthood. The allegation was never proven. In 2019, the Diocese of Jefferson City listed Kevin Clohessy among its list of 'credibly accused' clerics on its website, part of a national effort by the Catholic Church to be more transparent about the abuses. In 2012 it was reported that Clohessy has faced legal trouble for failing to release information on alleged clergy abuse victims. A court order had mandated him to release the records. The information was originally requested by the court in an effort to trace the possible violation of a

gag order A gag order (also known as a gagging order or suppression order) is an order, typically a legal order by a court or government, restricting information or comment from being made public or passed on to any unauthorized third party. The phrase may ...

in a sexual abuse case. After Clohessy was deposed, the Missouri State Supreme Court refused to intervene in the case.
/ref> Clohessy described this court order as the most significant legal challenge faced by SNAP in its 23 years.

References

External links

David Clohessy in the media

- ''Drury University Magazine''
Priest scandal puts focus on victims' advocate
- ''The Post-Dispatch'', St Louis, MO

''The New York Times Magazine'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Clohessy, David Place of birth missing (living people) Year of birth missing (living people) Living people Activists from St. Louis Catholic Church sexual abuse scandals in the United States Activists for victims of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church Drury University alumni American trade unionists

Biography

Sexual abuse by clergy

See also

References

External links