Meeting taking place in Rome in midst of historic Papal Summit on abuse.

WHAT
Survivors and founding members who represent the US section of the international survivors organization, Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) will be meeting this afternoon in Rome with US Ambassador to the Vatican, Callista Gingrich.  It is the first time in the sexual abuse and cover up crisis that victims from the US will be meeting with the US government with their concerns about how Vatican rules, policies and directives are responsible for the sexual abuse of children in the US and what steps the US government is taking to address it.

WHEN
TODAY. Friday, February 22, 2019 at 3:00 PM.

WHERE
U.S. Embassy to the Holy See, Via Sallustiana, 49 00187 Rome, Italy

WHO
The US Section of the international association of prominent survivors of clergy abuse and activists, Ending Clergy Abuse (ECAglobal.org), including two survivors of clergy abuse who are founding members, and the President of the Association.

WHY
This afternoon the United States section of the international survivors organization, Ending Clergy Abuse, ECA, will be meeting with US ambassador to the Vatican Callista Gingrich to discuss what steps the US government has taken to assure US citizens that Pope Francis and Vatican policy and rules on dealing with abusive priests is no longer endangering the safety of US children.  Survivors have long been concerned that the Vatican, which is a sovereign state, is in control of what steps US bishops can and cannot take to change policies and practices, now well documented in the US, to remove abusive priests from ministry and hold accountable bishops that have a proven record of covering up child sex crimes in the US. Along with these concerns, victims will also be seeking to learn what the US response is to the steps taken or not taken during the Papal summit and its impact and consequences for US policy, criminal justice investigations and US relationship with the Holy See.

This is the first time in the history of the sexual abuse and cover-up crisis in the Catholic Church that survivors have met with the US state department.

CONTACT
Peter Isely (US Spokesperson/ECA Founding Member)
Email:peterisely@gmail.com
Tel: +1414-429-7259 (English)

Dr. Denise Buchanan (ECA Founding/Board Member)
Email: denise@ecaglobal.org
Tel: +1310-980-2770 (English)

Tim Law (President ECA Founding/Board Member)
Email: timalaw@aol.com
Tel: +1206.412.0165 (English)

Ending Clergy Abuse (ECA) is a worldwide leadership organization of survivors of clergy abuse and human rights activists. Its mission is to compel the Roman Catholic Church to end clergy abuse, protect children, and seek justice for victims. ECA assembly members represent over 21 countries from 6 continents. https://www.ecaglobal.org – @ENDCLERGYABUSE – https://www.facebook.com/ENDCLERGYABUSE/   – contactus@ecaglobal.org

For all of ECA’s public actions, visit our website link: https://www.ecaglobal.org/eca-activities-rome-2019/