Phil Saviano always said he came forward as a survivor of sexual abuse by a Catholic priest because he was dying of AIDS and had nothing to lose. But his brother, Jim Saviano, doesn’t buy it. He says Phil spoke out because he wanted to protect children and hold the church accountable and he would have done so regardless of his health.
Phil Saviano, who was abused by a Catholic parish priest when he was a child in the 1970s and who as an adult in 2002 helped shed light on clergy sex abuse in the Archdiocese of Boston, died Nov. 28. His advocacy led to major reforms in the church.
DOUGLAS, Mass. (CNS) Phil Saviano, who was abused by a Catholic parish priest when he was a child in the 1970s and who as an adult in 2002 helped shed light on clergy sex abuse of minors in the Archdiocese of Boston, died Nov. 28. He was 69.
In December 1992, Phil Saviano was at the lowest point of his life. He was 40 years old, out of work and dying of AIDS. Leafing through the Boston Globe,