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American abuse survivor in Ireland: Give money to charity, not Church

Activist Barbara Blaine interrupts holiday to protest scandal

By
PATRICK REYNOLDS,
IrishCentral.com Staff Writer
Published Monday, December 14, 2009, 11:43 AM
Updated Monday, December 14, 2009, 12:00 PM

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Barbara Blaine has spent more than a decade protesting church abuse in the U.S.
Barbara Blaine has spent more than a decade protesting church abuse in the U.S.


An Irish-American victim of child abuse protested outside the Pro-Cathedral  in Dublin yesterday afternoon against the Catholic Church, cutting short a family holiday to do so.

Barbara Blaine handed printed statements to passersby according to the Irish Times. She said Catholics should stop giving money to the Catholic church and should donate to charities helping children instead.

Blaine, who lives in Chicago, founded the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) in 1989. It’s the oldest and largest organization of its kind in the U.S., with support groups in 60 cities across the country.

The group says it offers help to “women and men wounded by religious authority figures (priests, ministers, bishops, deacons, nuns, brothers, monks, and others).”

Blaine grew up in Ohio. When she was 13 years old, a 42-year-old local priest, Father Chet Warren, invited her to dinner and afterwards abused her.

"I was part of a group of junior high girls called ‘The Deaconettes’ that helped clean up after mass," she told the Ohio Toledo City paper in a 2004 interview. "One Sunday, Father Warren invited me to stay and have dinner with the priests. It was a special honor.”

After molesting her the priest said she must not tell anyone.

“He said nobody would understand because none of them were as holy and close to Jesus as we were, and somehow, this was blessed by Jesus ... I felt very guilty, ashamed, dirty and embarrassed. He almost didn’t have to warn me because I wasn’t going to tell anyone,” she told the Ohio paper.

Sixteen years passed before Blaine mentioned the abuse to her family.

Speaking to the Irish Times in Dublin, Blaine said abuse “is not just an Irish issue and it is ongoing.”

Blaine has little respect for Pope Benedict's response. “He knew how extensive the sexual abuse was,” she told the Times.

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7 Comments

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michaelvona | Dec 16, 2009, 12:53 PM EST
Miss Blanine must realize, if people stop giving money to the church, the church won't have any to give to those claiming to have been abused. My experience of SNAP is that they are not seeking "justice" but "vengence"...bit of a difference.

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KathyCallahan | Dec 16, 2009, 12:08 AM EST
Barbara Blaine deserves a medal.

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jacersisityourself | Dec 15, 2009, 05:52 PM EST
Pardon me; I can’t let this exchange go without comment. deenaww is wrong to suggest that celibacy is the problem or even part of the problem because it has been proven that married men/priests in other Christian and even Jewish and Islamic churches perpetrate the same offences, the same as in society as a whole, including within our neighbouring communities. I don’t agree with Barbara Blaine’s and ceciliag’s calls not to ever give money to my chosen Church. I am truly grieved for what they both suffered – it could have been me another time, another place – like thousands of others in Ireland, I am truly with them in the sense of hurt and betrayal if not in the physical sense and in their calls for justice. Just like any household, our spiritual home – our local parish church building - needs maintenance and the ordinary good priests who administer for us need our support. These come from parochial donations, which I’m not ashamed to donate to in trust of God.

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deenaww | Dec 15, 2009, 09:19 AM EST
The church hasn't always required celibacy. They only mandated celibacy for monetary reasons. The church wanted to end the financial support of wives and children of the priests. As far as Jesus being celibate that is still highly debated. Remember most of scripture was written long after his death.

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ceciliag | Dec 14, 2009, 11:53 PM EST
I am a Member of Survivors Network of Those Abused By Priests (SNAP), Long Beach, California; and I agree with My Fellow Survivor, Barbara Blaine.....PLEASE, PLEASE, Give your money to those who have the Best Interests of Children In Mind. DON'T Give Your Money To The Church. Save A Child? Feed An Already Over Fed Cardinal? Which Would You Choose? I Know Which One Our Lord Jesus Would Choose.

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TonydeNewYork | Dec 14, 2009, 09:26 PM EST
deenaww Christ was CELIBATE is he the model to follow! 11Jesus told them, "Only those people who have been given the gift of staying single can accept this teaching. 12Some people are unable to marry because of birth defects or because of what someone has done to their bodies. Others stay single for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Anyone who can accept this teaching should do so." Saint Matthew 19, 11-12.

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deenaww | Dec 14, 2009, 09:01 PM EST
Bless Barbara Blaine. The Church is still shuffling around priests and keeping secrets. It is time the church abolishes celibacy. It isn't normal or healthy to repress your sexuality. Think of all the children that would be spared abuse if the clergy could act human.

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