Barbara Blaine

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Barbara Blaine
Photo of Barbara Blaine.jpg
Born(1956-07-06)July 6, 1956
Toledo, Ohio
DiedSeptember 24, 2017(2017-09-24) (aged 61)
St. George, Utah
NationalityAmerican
OccupationLay missionary
Known forFounder and president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests

Barbara Ann Blaine (July 6, 1956 – September 24, 2017)[1] 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 clerical sexual abuse. It has been involved in the efforts by survivors to gain compensation and action by the Catholic Church and other religious organizations to end clergy abuse and acknowledge past cover-ups.

Based in Chicago, Illinois, SNAP has expanded to having chapters in numerous US cities, as well as organizations in other countries. In 2017 its website said it had 20,000 members.

Life[]

Blaine was born on July 6, 1956, to a Catholic family in Toledo, Ohio. She earned a bachelor's degree from St. Louis University, a master's degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Juris Doctor degree from DePaul University College of Law. She later resided and worked in Chicago.

Blaine worked as a lay missionary in Jamaica before moving to Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood in 1983 to take a job with Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace movement. For a decade, she worked with the Catholic Worker, a social service agency. Blaine also opened a homeless facility in a former convent at the now-shuttered Little Flower Catholic Church on the South Side. In 2002 she also worked as an assistant Cook County public guardian under Patrick Murphy.

In the late 1980s Blaine was coming to terms with having been sexually abused as a teenager by a priest. More reporting was being done about other abuse victims, as some refused to keep quiet about their treatment in the church and efforts to suppress information through settlements.

In 1988 Blaine founded Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), an organization to support those who had been abused by priests. She served as founding president until February 2017. Based in Chicago, SNAP has since enlarged its support to victims of other clergy, and there are sub-groups related to specific religious cultures.

Blaine said in 1989 that she had struggled herself to deal with having been abused for several years as a young teenager, beginning in junior high.

Blaine resigned from SNAP effective 3 February 2017, giving no reason for her action. In an email to the board, she said that it was not related to a civil suit filed in January 2017 by former staffer Gretchen Rachel Hammond against SNAP and its three top officials. Hammond accused them of allegedly exploiting victims of sexual abuse, and taking kickbacks for referrals to lawyers.

Blaine died on September 24, 2017, while vacationing in St. George, Utah, where she was surrounded by family and friends. The cause of death was a condition resulting from a sudden tear in a blood vessel in her heart.[1]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Goodstein, Laurie (September 25, 2017). "Barbara Blaine, Who Championed Victims of Priests' Abuse, Dies at 61". The New York Times. Retrieved September 26, 2017.

External links[]

Further reading: articles about Barbara Blaine[]

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