I Got Sick

Survivors of the Catholic sex abuse crisis Chris O'Leary & Tony Gribben discuss Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV, the catholic sex abuse crisis and the reality for survivors with BBC OS from World Service on May 9, 2025.

Some comments about new Pope Leo XIV by Chris O'Leary, a survivor of the Catholic sex abuse crisis, originally recorded for the BBC World Service.Reproduction, excerpting ALLOWED, no permission required. Contact for higher-quality versions and/or interviews.

Catholic survivor Chris O'Leary explains his painting, Special Training (The Ugly Truth), which discusses how his sexual abuse by a Priest happened and what it was like.

I was watching the movie The Shining the other day. The controversy about the movie -- Stephen King hated it, in part because it twisted Jack's motivation and emotions -- got me thinking about what it's like to be a survivor; how it FEELS.

The musical Wicked asks a question about the nature of evil. “Are people born wicked? Or do they have wickedness thrust upon them?” But does Wicked get it right? I have thoughts about that question, especially given my story and knowledge of and experience with My Friend The Cardinal and the Catholic sex abuse crisis.

Bishop Richard Rick Stika, the Bishop of Knoxville, the man whose Cathedral I've been standing vigil out front of, for more than a year, has resigned. Which, juxtaposed with a HORRIBLE discovery I made today, has me thinking...

Father's Day has me thinking about how to explain what happened to me to my kids. So, perhaps, they'll start speaking to me again. If they know I didn't abandon them. Instead, I got sick.

For all the happy talk, and all the P.R., Catholic children REMAIN in DANGER. Because, while some things have changed, one thing has not. The hierarchy. The Bishops. Men like My Friend The Cardinal.

Why have Catholic cardinals so often crossed paths -- and, in some cases, like My Friend The Cardinal and Cardinal Pell, at least, LIVED -- with the worst abusers in the church?

Imagine my HORROR at realizing a phrase and concept from my own story of abuse by a Catholic priest in the late 1970s is STILL a thing in 2022.