Clergy abuse survivor Saviano lauded at funeral for courage

By MARK PRATT
Associated Press

A clergy sex abuse survivor whose courage to go public and resolve to hold abusers and their enablers accountable was remembered by his brother as someone who inspired and strengthened survivors from around the world. Phil Saviano died Sunday at age 69 after a battle with gallbladder cancer and was honored at a funeral Mass Friday at St. Denis Catholic Church in Douglas, Massachusetts. It was the very church where he was first sexually molested at age 11 in the 1960s by a now-deceased parish priest. His brother, Jim Saviano, said Phil brought hope, dignity, strength and rebirth to victims of abuse.