While the Catholic Church talks a good game when it comes to survivors, too many of its words are that.

Just talk.

Designed to keep the donations flowing rather than to help people.

Empty Promises

What MORE do survivors want?

That's a — completely reasonable — question I've seen some faithful Catholics ask.

But it reflects a lack of understanding of the difference between the promises that are made and what is actually delivered.

Assistance Coordinators

The first piece I ever wrote on this topic was entitled Assistance Coordinators and Other Lies and discussed the — in my experience infinite — disconnect between the USCCB's promise of Assistance Coordinators for survivors and what I as a survivor experienced trying to get help from the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

I have since started working on a piece that discusses the difference between the promise and the reality of the Assistance Coordinator program, at least in the Archdiocese of St. Louis.

Vos Estis

As soon as it was announced by the Pope, I started putting together my list of violations of VOS ESTIS LUX MUNDI by the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Starting in late June 2019, I started trying to get my message to Rome via multiple channels...

• USCCB
• Cardinal Sean in Boston
• The Papal Nuncio

To date, and three months later, I have NO indication that my message has made it to Rome, much less been heard or acted on.

So much for VOS ESTIS.