S3E42 | Chris O'Leary: Catholic Abuse Survivor Exposes Cardinal Dolan & The Truth About ‘Spotlight’

This week I’m honored to be joined on the show by an incredible survivor who I was recently introduced to on Twitter who has been speaking out on and whistleblowing about a topic we haven’t covered much on this podcast: Catholic Church and School sexual abuse and misconduct. Introducing: Acknowledged survivor, overcomer, and whistleblower of the Catholic sex abuse crisis, voice for the voiceless, father, selfless and tireless advocate, author, artist, and YouTube podcast host and content creator: Chris O’Leary!

The coolest thing about meeting Chris was finding out we both live in St Louis Missouri and getting to actually meet Chris in person before this interview. He so generously took time to meet up with me at Immacolata Church and school here in St Louis where his abuse occurred and not only gave me a tour, but shared some of his core memories and where they took place while we were walking through. It was a really emotional and personal experience to get to relive some of Chris’s childhood with him and to get to actually see in person the exact location where the testimony you’re going to hear today took place.

Chris’s abuse was at the hands of a priest working at Immacolata by the name of Father LeRoy Valentine who - in addition to being a priest - was also a pedophile and perpetraitor of young and vulnerable children. And Chris, a young and vulnerable child himself was viewed as prey by the same person and people who should have been protecting him. The abuse was further covered up by then Bishop Timothy Dolan who is now serving the Archbishop of New York and potential next Pope… This case goes all the way up to the top if exposed!

The abuse memories from Chris’s childhood were largely suppressed and covered by happy memories through much of his life and it wasn’t until later on when the partial memories he did have began to find their missing puzzle pieces and Chris realized his childhood at Immacolata was not the happy, feel-good place he had thought he remembered…

The abuse Chris experienced as a child he calls a ‘precursor’ to the abuse he’d then go on to receive as a whistleblower as he was faced with the realization that when you make allegations of abuse against the church, there are measures in place not only to continue to protect the abusers, but there is really zero help at all for survivors of church abuse. Chris appropriately dubs the treatment he’s received as an adult ‘Abuse of the Abused’.

Chris’s story is important because Catholic church abuse and abuse in general in ‘religious’ establishments is insurmountably high and seldom do these stories get heard on a grand scale without some sort of cover-up. Although Chris’s story is no different with covert cover-ups in place to protect the abuse and abusers, he’s tirelessly stood up to these abominations over the last few years and has become a powerful voice and advocate for victims and survivors alike who have been abused and never get heard. I encourage you all to pay attention and learn as this is still to this day happening to children all over the world and we need to shine a light on this darkness that has been occurring for far too long!

Before we dive into today’s episode, I wanted to give a reminder that if you are a survivor or whistleblower who wants to share your story on the podcast or wants to share any information privately with me, you can now email me at [email protected]! Please send me a briefing of who you are and how I can support you whether it’s through podcasting or sharing information. I also just started a Substack that you can support at www.EmmaKatherine.Substack.com where I will be doing weekly recaps and insights on my podcast and using this as a place to publicly journal my journey as an advocate for our children. All my social, email and project links can also be found in the show notes and as always - I’m so grateful for all your support.

CONNECT WITH CHRIS:
DONATE to Chris’s GoFundMe: https://www.gofundme.com/f/chris-oleary-catholic-abuse-survivor-gofundme
Twitter: @ivanDoesnot - https://twitter.com/ivandoesnot?s=21&t=hMSb9yK0bUteuyfQq5oQpw
YouTube: @ivandoesnot
Website: https://t.co/85VrK2J7hp
Email: [email protected]
Spotlight Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/03/us/2-paths-no-easy-solution-on-abusive-priests.html

CONNECT WITH THE IMAGINATION:
Emma's Substack: https://emmakatherine.substack.com/
EMAIL: [email protected]
All links: https://direct.me/theimaginationpodcast
Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/theimagination
BUY ME A COFFEE: https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theimagination
Website: https://standbysurvivors.com