BishopAccountability.org
	Clergy Sex Abuse Victim Phil Saviano Adresses a Crowd Last Week As He Talks about His Clergy Abuse Law Suit Sex Abuse Survivor Tells Story By Nina Lowy The Daily Collegian [Amherst] April 11, 2005 Last week on April 5, Phil Saviano, a survivor of clergy sexual abuse, spoke at the University of Massachusetts. Saviano's story is an unprecedented one being the first Massachusetts victim who was able to settle a clergy-abuse lawsuit without signing a confidentiality agreement. Saviano recalls most of the abuse occurred when he was twelve years old, and living in a small town outside of Worcester. He described the abuse as a "grooming process." In the beginning, Saviano and his friend, who was also molested by Father David Holley, were asked to do simple chores around the church, such as moving boxes, in exchange for 50 cents for an ice cream. This eventually turned into the priest showing the young boys sexually explicit playing cards with pictures of men and women on them, and discussion about sex. The abuse began when the priest repeatedly asked for oral sex from Saviano in the basement of the church. Saviano remembers the priest's grip around his wrist when he tried to pry it off. "It was a huge conflict for me. I wanted the groundskeeper to look in and see [through the window], and I didn't want him to see," Saviano said. After eighteen months, Holley left the church and nobody asked any questions as to why. Saviano survived high school despite being insecure and developing depression. He graduated college from UMass in 1975 with a degree in zoology, and received his master's degree in communication from Boston University. In the 1980's he began to do publicity for concerts. It was not until 1997 that Saviano turned towards public activism and founded the New England chapter of Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests. Saviano went through life up until 1992 thinking that Holley had been caught. Then one morning while reading the Boston Globe, he read about two victims of clergy-abuse who went public- victims of David Holley. "That was my life changing moment, when I saw the article in the Globe about the two were who were molested in the 1970s," explained Saviano. At this point, the public exposure began. Saviano hired Boston attorney Eric MacLeish and filed the first priest-abuse lawsuit in Massachusetts against the Worcester diocese. The Worcester diocese offered Saviano $15,500 if he signed a confidentiality agreement- a legally binding document. His lawyer threatened to resign from the case because Saviano refused to sign it. "I couldn't talk to news media, couldn't share experiences with a support group. I couldn't even talk to my friends about it," said Saviano. He felt abandoned by the diocese and his lawyer. He was even encouraged to plead guilty and to claim he had never met Holley's other victims. Saviano began a short correspondence with the imprisoned Holley, who was locked up in New Mexico, after receiving a 275-year sentence. "I didn't get the answers I was looking for, so settled with the court instead of going to trial," Saviano explained. What he did get from the letters however, were merely "priestly sentiments." The lawsuit was filed in May of 1993, in order for Saviano to get access to the priest's records, and was settled in April of 1996. Saviano became the first victim who was able to settle a clergy-abuse lawsuit without signing a confidentiality agreement. He proceeded to call the Boston Globe to diffuse his story through the public. He then had to face his family. He told his three brothers and father his story on a Sunday, the day before the story ran in the Globe. At this time, Saviano's mother had already passed away. His father "was angry and accused me of bringing the scandal to our hometown," recalls Saviano. Six weeks later, on February 1, 1993 another story and photograph covering Saviano ran on the front page of USA Today. "The issue is like quicksand," he compared. International news media began to pursue Saviano and he declined an invitation to go on Good Morning America. Saviano founded the New England chapter of SNAP, which is a national organization that began in 1990 in Chicago. Today there are over 50 chapters. Saviano maintains the organization's website, snapnetwork.org. "It is possible to heal. Part of the process is to verbalize with other survivors. Your experience which was so consuming may not have been so unique after all," explained Saviano. His reply to thoughts about the Catholic Church was, "I'm going to choose my words carefully, something you can print," Saviano said chuckling. "Church has missed many opportunities to make the world a better place to live in. It's not a friend to women or to gays in society. It doesn't have a positive legacy in the way it's treated children. It's done a lot of good in the world, but there's so much more it could be doing," Saviano said. The event was presented by the Everywoman's Center Rape Crisis and Violence Prevention Programs, the Men's Resource Center and the UMass Stonewall Center.