Investigation identifies 500 Catholic priests and clergy accused of sexual abuse in Illinois

0

A new investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office has identified 500 priests and clergy with credible allegations of sexual abuse against them, all of whom have not been previously identified by church officials. and some of whom are still active in the church.

On Wednesday, outgoing Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan released preliminary findings from an investigation her office launched in August of this year.

Prior to his office’s investigation, the six dioceses in Illinois had publicly named 140 priests with claims against them. After Madigan’s investigation began, the Catholic Church itself appointed 45 additional priests.

But Madigan’s investigation found 500 separate priests and clergy with credible abuse allegations against them, according to Maura Possley, director of communications for the attorney general.

“Because I know the church has too often ignored survivors of clergy sexual assault, I want to share the initial findings of our work,” Madigan said in a statement released Wednesday with his preliminary findings.

The Illinois report is the latest update in a series of ongoing investigations into sexual abuse within the Catholic Church across the country.

The names of the 500 priests and clergy have not been made public by Madigan’s office and Possley noted that the investigation is ongoing.

Possley confirmed that some of the 500 priests and clergy are active ministries, but did not reveal their numbers and noted that the investigation into the charges against them continues.

Of the 185 priests and clergy identified by the Archdiocese of Chicago and the other five dioceses in Illinois, each individual is listed as deceased or in bond, meaning they have been removed from the church, at except for three people in Springfield who were classified as “not active in ministry.”

In the statement released by Madigan’s office, it notes that Madigan “anticipates additional names to be released as his office’s investigation continues.”

“While the findings are preliminary, they demonstrate the need and importance of continuing this investigation,” Madigan said in the statement.

Madigan opted not to run for a fifth term, so she will step down in January, but her successor, Kwame Raoul, posted on Twitter Wednesday that he “committed to continuing this work when I begin my term as attorney general.”

Madigan’s report says his office “found several examples where dioceses in Illinois failed to notify law enforcement or DCFS [Department of Children and Family Services] allegations they have received regarding the sexual abuse of minors by members of the clergy” and noted that different dioceses used different criteria to determine whether a complaint against an individual should be considered credible.

“While Illinois dioceses have touted their ‘independent audits’ as evidence that they are adequately responding to allegations of clergy sexual abuse, the audits are apparently not designed to uncover clergy abuse, but are rather superficial, “tick the box” exercises done in a routine manner by the same entity nationwide, using a process that does not appear to involve a systematic review of the contents of records or decisions made by a diocese “, says the report.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, released a statement expressing his “deep regret of the whole church for our failure to address the scourge of clerical sexual abuse.”

“There is no doubt about the constant need to reinforce our culture of healing, protection and accountability. While the vast majority of abuse took place decades ago, many victim-survivors continue to live with this pain. unimaginable,” Cupich said in his statement.

The Archdiocese noted in the statement that it “stands ready to cooperate with all institutions and agencies that deal with children.”

There are now at least 16 jurisdictions across the country that have launched clerical sexual abuse investigations following the release of a Pennsylvania grand jury report detailing the alleged cover-up of decades of abuse by hundreds of Catholic priests.

In addition to the ongoing investigation in Illinois, officials in Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Virginia and the District of Columbia—as well as the Archdiocese of Anchorage in Alaska—told ABC News their offices are reviewing their options and considering taking similar action.

Share.

Comments are closed.