Barbara Blaine

Barbara Ann Blaine (July 6, 1956 – September 24, 2017) was the founder and president of Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), a national advocacy group for survivors of clerical sexual abuse. She resigned from the presidency effective February 3, 2017; "in an emailed statement...[Blaine wrote] 'It has been the greatest honor of my life to have found and been your president for the past 29 years. Change however is inevitable. ...Please know that the recent lawsuit filed against SNAP, as the others in the past which have no merit, had absolutely no bearing on my leaving. The discussions and process of my departure has been ongoing.'"

Life

Blaine was born on July 6, 1956, in Toledo, Ohio, and later resided in Chicago. She had a bachelor's degree from St. Louis University, a master's degree in social work from Washington University in St. Louis and a law degree from DePaul University School of Law.

Blaine was allegedly sexually abused by a priest during her teenage years from junior high school until graduation, the abuse allegedly having occurred from 1969–1974, something she revealed in 1989. The priest, Chet Warren, was removed from ministry and was defrocked after she and others came forward.

Blaine worked as a lay missionary in Jamaica before moving to Chicago's Edgewater neighborhood in 1983 to take a job with Pax Christi, an international Catholic peace movement. She then held a decade-long position with the Catholic Worker, a social service agency. Blaine also opened a homeless facility in a former convent at the now-shuttered Little Flower Catholic Church on the South Side. In 2002 she also worked as an assistant Cook County public guardian under Patrick Murphy.

Blaine resigned from SNAP in February 2017—no reason for her resignation was given. She died on September 24, 2017, while vacationing in St. George, Utah, surrounded by family and friends. The cause of death was a condition resulting from a sudden tear in a blood vessel in her heart.