Fr. James Connell, Wisconsin Priest, to Speak at VOTF 10th Year Conference
continued

In this effort, Fr. Connell challenges Church policies and practices on local and national levels. Moreover, he sees his advocacy role as primarily being a “journey with” the victims/survivors in their quest for truth, justice, healing and peace.

“Knowledge and understanding of the truth (the absence of all forms of falsehood and deception), stand as prerequisites for justice,” Fr. Connell says. “In turn, justice based on truth can lead to healing and peace. In short—no truth (facts and explanations), no justice; no justice, no healing; no healing, no peace.”

In December 2011, after meeting quietly for about a year, Fr. Connell and several other priests and clergy sexual abuse survivors joined together to call for more transparency from the Church concerning the abuse scandal and for survivors/victims in the Milwaukee archdiocese to come forward before the Feb. 1, 2012, deadline to file for restitution in federal bankruptcy court. The group ran a signed, full-page ad to that effect in the Jan. 27, 2012, edition of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel.