Phil Saviano, advocate for survivors of abuse by Catholic priests, dies at 69

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Phil Saviano (right), an advocate for survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, played by actor Neal Huff (left) in the 2015 film “Spotlight”, died Sunday at the age of 69 the aftermath of a battle with cancer. File photo by Nina Prommer / EPA-EFE

November 28 (UPI) – Phil Saviano, a leading advocate for survivors of sexual abuse by Catholic priests, died on Sunday. He was 69 years old.

Saviano, who played a pivotal role in providing information for the Boston Globe’s investigation into sexual abuse among the city’s clergy, died Sunday after a battle with gallbladder cancer, said his Brother Jim Saviano at the Washington Post.

In October, he announced that doctors could no longer treat his cancer and that he also had heart surgery and a stroke in the following months.

Born June 23, 1952 in Douglas, Mass., Saviano first spoke of the abuse he faced in the church in 1992 after reading that Catholic priest David A. Holley had been arrested for abusing boys in a church in New Mexico in the 1970s.

As he died of AIDS and thousands of dollars in debt, Saviano spoke to the Globe about his abuse at Holley’s hands and reached a $ 5,7,000 settlement with the Diocese of Worcester, Massachusetts, refusing a more settlement. important which would have forced him to remain silent. about his childhood trauma.

“If I hadn’t died of AIDS, I wouldn’t have had the courage to come forward, but by then my career was over, I was on the verge of getting out of it physically, my reputation went downhill. been touched in the eyes of a lot of people, and I didn’t have much to lose, “he told The Globe in 2009.” It was a last opportunity to make changes and to change this something that happened to me when I was a kid. ”

However, after protease inhibitors to treat his AIDS became available, Saviano continued his work with abuse survivors by founding a New England chapter of the Abuse Survivors Network. priests, or SNAP, in 1997.

Using church documents on his own case that he obtained through his legal actions, he also kept records of abuse in the church and heard stories from other victims.

“I quickly became a repository of horror stories, offering support and advice to victims calling from across the country,” he said.

He also worked with the Globe’s Spotlight team in 2002 as he detailed abuse within the church and shared the stories of other survivors, leading to the Pulitzer Prize-winning series that sparked a new wave of charges across the country.

Saviano was played by actor Neal Huff in the 2015 film Projector about the story and was on stage with the cast and crew when he won the Oscar for Best Picture.

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