* Click here for the report. Press release…
Attorney General Kwame Raoul today released a comprehensive report detailing decades of child sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Illinois. The report concludes a multi-year investigation into child sex abuse by members of the clergy in all six Catholic dioceses in Illinois. Attorney General Raoul’s report reveals names and detailed information of 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all of the dioceses in Illinois.
The Attorney General’s Report on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse in Illinois – released this morning during a press conference in Chicago – represents the state of Illinois’ first comprehensive accounting of child sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in the six dioceses across Illinois. The nearly 700-page report features detailed narrative accounts of child sex abuse committed by Catholic clerics. Many of the narratives were written in consultation with survivors, are based upon their experiences, and told from the survivor’s point of view. Although the report formally concludes the investigation the Attorney General’s office opened in 2018, it contains 50 pages of the office’s recommendations to the dioceses for the handling of future child sex abuse allegations.
“I was raised and confirmed in the Catholic church and sent my children to Catholic schools. I believe the church does important work to support vulnerable populations; however, as with any presumably reputable institution, the Catholic church must be held accountable when it betrays the public’s trust,” Raoul said “It is my hope that this nearly 700-page report will provide some closure to survivors of child sex abuse by Catholic clerics by shining a light both on those who violated their positions of power and trust, and on the individuals in church leadership who covered up that abuse,” Raoul said. “These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accounting and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.”
Before Raoul’s investigation, the Catholic dioceses of Illinois publicly listed only 103 substantiated child sex abusers. By comparison, Raoul’s report reveals names and detailed information of 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all of the dioceses in Illinois.
Attorneys and investigators in Raoul’s office reviewed more than 100,000 pages of documents held by the dioceses and received more than 600 confidential contacts from survivors through emails, letters, interviews and phone calls. Raoul’s office also worked closely to record accounts of the survivor experiences of children who were sexually abused by clerics.
“I am extremely proud of the work done by my office’s team of investigators and attorneys who faced challenges and intervening factors including a pandemic and a ransomware attack to the office’s IT infrastructure. The emotional impact of the work was unique to this investigation, and our team committed to approaching the investigation with grace and compassion,” Raoul added. “I thank each of them for the tireless work and commitment to allowing survivors to share their experiences.”
Raoul’s nearly 700-page report is organized into five sections, with sections highlighting detailed information on each diocese’s historic handling – and inaction – of child sex abuse, data analysis showing the extent of child sex abuse by clerics in each Illinois diocese, and specific recommendations from the Attorney General’s office to the dioceses for handling future child sex abuse allegations.
The survivor narratives demonstrate a troubling pattern of the church failing to support survivors, ignoring or covering up reports of abuse, and survivors being revictimized by the church when they came forward to report being abused. Repeatedly, church officials prioritized the reputation of the institution over protecting children, frequently giving abusive priests the benefit of the doubt – giving abusers the chance to abuse again – and even covering up the abuse by misleading the public. The Attorney General’s investigation also found instances in which church officials were in a position to report abuse but chose not to do so. As a result, many narrative accounts demonstrate the continued trauma and impact survivors continue to experience decades later.
As a result of the Attorney General’s investigation, Illinois Catholic dioceses have adopted uniform policies to improve the handling of alleged child sex abuse. Among those are policies requiring dioceses to investigate allegations against clerics who are deceased, have resigned or been laicized. Additional policies require the dioceses to ensure that allegations against religious order and extern clerics are investigated, and to publicly list a religious order or extern cleric who is substantiated as a child sex abuser if the cleric had sufficient connection with the diocese.
While these policies demonstrate a step in the right direction, they do not go far enough. Attorney General Raoul’s report includes 50 pages of recommended policies the office strongly encourages the dioceses to enact to further improve the handling of future allegations of child sex abuse. Those recommendations range from how the dioceses communicate with and support survivors, investigate and make determinations related to alleged abuse, as well as disclosure and transparency protocols, mediation and compensation, and the handling of allegations related to religious orders.
Raoul’s report contains detailed descriptions of child sex abuse, assault and trauma. Resources for survivors of child sex abuse can also be found in Attorney General Raoul’s report.
…Adding… Sun-Times…
In August 2018, shortly after then-Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced an investigation into whether the Catholic church in Illinois had fully disclosed the scope of child sex abuse by priests and other clergy members, Cardinal Blase Cupich said the church had nothing to hide.
“Our record’s clean,” the top Catholic cleric in Chicago told a closed-door gathering of about 200 men studying at the Mundelein seminary to be priests, according to sources who were there. “I’m confident that, when the attorney general looks in our files . . . that she will, in fact, find that we’re doing our job.”
“We posted all of the names,” Cupich told the group, referring to the publicly available church list of clergy members in the Archdiocese of Chicago deemed to have been credibly accused of sexual abuse.
Cupich’s assertions were far off the mark, according to the results of the investigation announced Tuesday by Madigan’s successor, Kwame Raoul, who said the archdiocese, covering Cook and Lake counties, and the rest of the Catholic church in Illinois failed to acknowledge hundreds of allegedly abusive priests and other religious figures.
…Adding… Ugh…
* Also, from the report…
. What can be said is that as things stand, the Diocese of Springfield has yet to reconcile itself with its past. To do that, the diocese must commit to transparency and survivor healing through deeds, listening to survivors and their pleas for trauma-informed responses. The diocese must also openly acknowledge that turning its back for half a century on the needs of children suffering sex abuse at the hands of its clerics was in no way “virtuous.”
- Suburban Mom - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:48 am:
Here’s where you can find the offender list, it was not immediately obvious to me on the web page:
https://clergyreport.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/abuserlist/
- Hannibal Lecter - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:56 am:
Four of the people on that list taught at my school. Unreal.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:58 am:
“Repeatedly, church officials prioritized the reputation of the institution over protecting children”
This is exactly how I see anyone who is still a member of the church. There’s no ignoring it anymore, or hiding behind religion to avoid facing the music of what people have individually supported in their personal support of the church.
I was an altar boy at a church. I had reason to leave long before most, because I saw it from the inside directly. There is now no reason for anyone to claim ignorance of what has happened.
That includes any state money going to the church, in any form.
- Lincoln Lad - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:59 am:
I am without words…
- OneMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:59 am:
I would recommend at look at
https://clergyreport.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/data-analysis/#total-number
The percentages are depressing especially when compared to what the entities had initially reported.
- Henry Francis - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:06 am:
For an organization that knowingly operated a child sex abuse ring for decades (if not centuries . . .) I continue to be amazed when said organization tries to hold moral authority and lectures people on the “dignity of life”.
The Catholic Church makes Jeffrey Epstein look like a bubblegummer.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:06 am:
To be more specific on what I saw form the inside, I was an altar boy for TWO of the priests listed here. I saw how the church protected them. I still see how the church protects those like Jeremy Hylka in the Joliet Diocese, who was finally caught by a vigilante group and convicted earlier this year. The words of the church are useless in pretending they are changing. Their actions are clearly demonstrating they are not.
“These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law”
That’s deliberate.
The Will County State’s Attorney Jim Glasgow is an alumni of the Joliet diocese. He was brought a list of more than a dozen names of young men who tried to come forward against the diocese - he did nothing. It took the vigilante group to catch the guy red handed. Without that vigilante group, he would never have been prosecuted for his acts against children, and the church would have gotten away with protecting another abuser in 2023.
- MattMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:24 am:
Lock. Them. Up.
- DuPage Dad - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:24 am:
May this report continue to bring justice and empowerment for the victims of this incontrovertible wrongdoing.
- Paul - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:28 am:
Interesting, none of the abusers were drag queens or transgender.
- Lincoln Lad - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:28 am:
Yet Glasgow took time to attack bail reform and sue the Gov.
- Flyin'Elvis'-Utah Chapter - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:28 am:
“Hi, we’re the Roman Catholic church. Please don’t Google us.”-John Mulaney
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:29 am:
Years ago I sat in a room with the students at St. Agatha in Chicago. The suits from the Archdiocese asked, “Does anyone know why Fr. McCormack is no longer here with us?”
A child replied, “Fr. Dan touched someone’s privates.” Dan McCormack was tried, convicted, and served a short sentence in prison. Now McCormack is out free to roam the streets of Chicago.
The Church failed to address the teachers and staff who experienced trauma as their students suffered at the hands of pedophiles.
What the Church has allowed to exist is unconscionable.
- Grandson of Man - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:36 am:
“giving abusers the chance to abuse again”
Where’s Asleep IL and other anti “grooming” organizations like Moms for “Liberty?” Pretty quiet about the priest scandals? Just upset about honest LGBTQ+ people trying to exist? Figures.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:37 am:
oh sure, but tax breaks. (Dan Proft shut it) AYFKM This story is horrible. all those victims. what will happen to them? how can they get relief? hundreds of offenders. HUNDREDS. If this were a corporation, it would be shut down. I no longer want to hear that I’m from X parish. it’s criminal.
- Big Dipper - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:42 am:
==Four of the people on that list taught at my school. Unreal.==
One was the principal of my high school during the years that I attended. Heard rumors about others but they aren’t on the list for whatever reasons (innocent, no credible evidence, etc.).
- Suburbanon - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 11:57 am:
As an occasional practicing Catholic it sickens me to see that list. Simply unbelievable. It also sickens me to think about the billions of church funds paid out as damages instead of helping people who needed help. I’ve known a lot of good, and bad, priests, and I’m dumbfounded why the good ones didn’t stand up and demand the abusers be dealt with severely and be removed entirely from ministry where they could not harm anyone else.
- Jocko - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:05 pm:
And to think that, in 2023, 33 states don’t require clergy to report alleged child sexual abuse to police or child welfare.
- ChiTown Rustler - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:10 pm:
Looking for the AG to produce similar report on the Chicago Public Schools sex offenders back to the 1950’s. Anyone remember the Nude Swimming requirement for Chicago Public School students?
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:16 pm:
–I’m dumbfounded why the good ones didn’t stand up–
Because they aren’t ‘the good ones’.
It’s going to be hard for some people to accept, because the concept is so alien, but the reality is there are people who support the actions of the church. They sincerely believe that protecting the institution is more important than protecting the people in it.
I’ve made a lot of enemies by having spoken out on this for decades. But those enemies are the ones who prefer protecting the church, so I’m fine with it. Some people, like the priests you mentioned, made the choice to not speak up to protect the institution. When it mattered the most, they took the easy way.
- 47th Ward - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:21 pm:
Don’t think for a minute that these crimes are only being committed by Catholic priests. Glad that AG Raoul released this report, but there are many other organizations with similar incidents still hidden away.
- hisgirlfriday - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:22 pm:
I am concerned by this list because of one of the names I do not see on it.
The longtime priest at my hometown’s parish in the Peoria diocese retired in the early 2000s, and soon after this retirement it was revealed he had allegations of abuse and a civil lawsuit filed against him. It was publicly known that a settlement over $1 million was paid to his accuser although news reports said there was no admission of liability as part of the settlement.
If that guy did not make the cut of the named and shamed priests for the AG report because of how his case got settled, it makes me wonder just how much worse this problem is.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:24 pm:
@ChiTown Rustler, if you have evidence, share it with authorities. Problems must be uncovered especially as victims suffer the rest of their lives AND who knows if abuse creates more abuse. But do not, DO NOT, minimize the decades of abuse covered up, seemingly condoned by the Roman Catholic church. And if you read more about it, it seems this is not just a USA or this and the previous century problem. It’s hundreds of years of cover up.
- Homebody - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:25 pm:
I say the same thing about the Chicago and Evanston Park District sex abuse scandals as I do about the Catholic Church. Namely, that it continues to shock and sicken me how many people at every level of so many organizations not only turn a blind eye to child abuse, but seem more concerned about protecting the reputation of abusers and the organizations they work for, rather than protecting children.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:25 pm:
ChiTown Rustler,
You know what the CPS couldn’t do? Hold the sacraments over parent’s heads if they “acted up”. My late Father-in-law had the experience of having one of his sons abused. When he checked on the priest and found that he was coaching at the Y he went to the new priest and to the bishop to tell them they had a problem and for his troubles he was told he could no longer receive the sacraments because he was unforgiving.
I would be interested in the CPS story of abuse. I would guess they put in controls and punishments before the CC did.
- Emanuel Collective - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:27 pm:
The report’s section on Bishop Paprocki is especially damning. Stonewalling investigators. Refusing to cooperate. Treating victims with contempt, even questioning one victim’s faith. This is brutal.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:28 pm:
Amalia,
Yes I still bitterly remember hearing that Italian Cardinal saying, this is only an American problem because they are so litigious. I wish he was still alive so he could have his nose rubbed in it.
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:36 pm:
“Don’t think for a minute that these crimes are only being committed by Catholic priests. Glad that AG Raoul released this report, but there are many other organizations with similar incidents still hidden away”
If you can identify another organization that has engaged in a decades-long, interstate (international‼️) cover-up of sex crimes against tens of thousands of children, I’d be very interested to read about it.
– MrJM
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:38 pm:
During a Catholic mass, the priest elevates the host and the chalice.
Imagine the hands that participate in this ritual are the same hands that abuse and molest children.
- JS Mill - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:40 pm:
=But do not, DO NOT, minimize the decades of abuse covered up, seemingly condoned by the Roman Catholic church.=
Try milenia in place of decades. They have been abusing children and parishioners for two thousand years.
=this is only an American problem because they are so litigious.=
Tell that to the Irish. At the end of the movie Spotlight (which I highly recommend) there is a list of countries that had these scandals. It is extensive.
Any corporation that behaved like this would be shut down. The church is a business and should be closed for their horrific destruction of people.
- up2now - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:48 pm:
I know I am going against the grain of what is being said here, but… I grew up in a very Catholic area of Southern Illinois in the 1960s and early 1970s, attended Catholic grade school and was an altar boy. I served Mass for a number of priests. Most of my boyhood friends went to Catholic schools. I never heard of any kind of sexual abuse, nor did my friends ever say anything. I know we were very fortunate and that this list of abusers is sickening. But to be fair, there were many good priests, and not all priests were abusers. Just for the record.
- Pundent - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 12:57 pm:
=But to be fair, there were many good priests, and not all priests were abusers. Just for the record.=
The fact that not all priests were abusers does not minimize the systemic problems that exist within the church and those that have been complicit in the cover up. Time and time again the institution has failed these victims and failed to acknowledge its responsibility. And it does so, in part, by relying on apologists that are willing to dismiss these issues as some sort of an aberration.
- TheInvisibleMan - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:02 pm:
–I never heard of any kind of sexual abuse, nor did my friends ever say anything.–
Note above, where the church would withhold sacraments to people who tried to talk about and address it.
Abuse comes in many forms. Being too afraid to speak because of the consequences those you are speaking of would impose on you, is one of those forms.
If you read the report, you will see many priests from northern Illinois who were moved because of their behavior and to protect them from consequences, to areas in and around southern Illinois.
I can sadly assure you, it happened near you, and probably in a church/school you attended.
- Andrea Durbin - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:13 pm:
Sitting at my desk and weeping for all those children and their betrayal at the hands of a person they were told was next to God. The ripple effects of this pain and trauma are unimaginable. As the saying goes in the field: Hurt people hurt people. How many people suffered directly or indirectly because of this abuse and systemic cover up?
- Squirrel - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:18 pm:
JS Mill - I second the Spotlight recommendation.
I can’t remember the statistic, but a huge percentage of sexual assaults and rapes go unreported to anyone of any authority. These 1,997 victims within the report likely represent only a fraction of those abused by the Catholic Church in Illinois. Just because you didn’t personally know any stories doesn’t mean it wasn’t happening.
- Larry Bowa Jr. - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:25 pm:
“Don’t think for a minute that these crimes are only being committed by Catholic priests.”
I think the adults commenting here are aware that the Catholic church is not the only place children are raped by grown men. It’s just that the Catholic church leadership is historically so much more systematic and organized about the raping of children, and especially covering up the raping of children by its priests.
Sorry if this sounds strident but “abuse” is a weasel word for journalists. Priests around the world raped children like it was their actual mission, quite obviously some of them entered the church for specifically that purpose, and the church lied and covered it up with the focus on the organization and the rapists it protected rather than their victims. Sit with that until you’ve digested it, although you probably will never be able to intellectually process it if you are not as sick in the head as the holy men on this list.
- cermak_rd - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:27 pm:
Rudy’s teeth,
Not only that but some of the priests were also into sacrilege (the one that abused my brother-in-law was). I guess having broken a fundamental human norm they had no trouble with mere church norms.
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:29 pm:
If only Bishop Paprocki removed his blindfold while he served in the Archdiocese of Chicago, he may have seen, reacted to and removed pedophiles lurking in parishes.
So many children suffered under his watch. Not only the children but parents and grandparents as well.
No amount of rationalization will remove this stain from Paprocki’s legacy.
- Excitable Boy - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:29 pm:
- must also openly acknowledge that turning its back for half a century on the needs of children -
Don’t be too hard on them, they spent a lot of that time bound and gagged.
- Politix - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:34 pm:
++ not all priests ++
First of all, just…don’t. Second, is it a possibility that your friends have kept it from you? Most victims carry a sense of undeserved shame and embarrassment and self-blame upon victimization, and it keeps them from sharing their stories or contacting authorities. Statements like this can diminish the experiences of countless victims.
- Uptown Progressive - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:37 pm:
It is horrible but the CC is not alone, just larger. E.g.https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sexual_abuse_cases_in_Southern_Baptist_churches
- Oswego Willy - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:41 pm:
As I have noted on several occasions, I am a Catholic.
If I am practicing or lapsed, it’s likely when my faith guilts me to return or this church makes me reassess.
I was in San Francisco a while back in a bar in their Little Italy, local joint, ran into a person from Illinois. That’s all I will say.
This person as a young person had faced these types of heinous abuse, and I can’t even tell you why or how we even got there to this subject or why this person told me so much of that history, but the relief of telling the stories again, cathartic if I had to speculate, and being a survivor, frankly I coulda been anywhere but San Francisco, it was just this person talking and me, and it was as powerful thinking about this moment turn when it was going on.
Victims of these crimes, be they alive or passed, they need to be heard and these abusers, alive or passed, should not benefit from silence or a lack of light, so this report is for so many things, but it’s for the person I met on the West Coast who still lives with scars and is haunted, and is also resilient and has moved forward, not letting the abuse rob more than what has been taken.
- Appears - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:45 pm:
Power corrupts. And absolute power corrupts absolutely. The Catholic Church believed they held the keys to heaven. And they lorded it over everyone. For many years, the Catholic Church said that only good-standing Catholics went to heaven.
And what was the homily my parish church the last two Sundays (Springfield diocese): That you can only get to know God by going to Catholic Mass (there is no other way) and you have an moral obligation to attend Mass on all Sundays and holy days.
- Jocko - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:48 pm:
==I never heard of any kind of sexual abuse, nor did my friends ever say anything.==
I’m reminded of the quote “Just because it didn’t happen to you, doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.”
- dbk - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 1:54 pm:
I also highly recommend the film “Spotlight” (focus on Boston), which I re-view at least once a year. At the end of the film there’s a seemingly endless list of dioceses both American and international where sexual abuse by priests has been documented; when I saw “Peoria, Illinois,” I thought “uh-oh.”
Also recommended: the Netflix documentary “The Keepers” (six parts), which reveals the unholy connection/collusion in Baltimore between the Catholic Church and city organs (Police and others).
The average rate of abuse noted in “Spotlight” was about 6% of all priests; the rate of 10% is alarming given the attention that’s been paid to the subject in the past two decades.
- Nearly Normal - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:18 pm:
I am in the Peoria Diocese and remember three of the abusers who served in my parish as a child. Breaks my heart to read how once man was abused by two priests who were also at my high school.
Interesting that Bishop Myers left the Peoria Diocese to become the Archbishop of Newark, NJ. His tenure there was not without controversy over his handling of several sex abuse cases.
- Rudy’s teeth - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:23 pm:
After attending mass and receiving communion from the pedophile Dan McCormack during my time at St. Agatha in Chicago, I don’t participate in services anymore.
Of course, I attend funeral masses out of respect to families, that is the extent of my participation.
One of my students would lock the door in our classroom. I explained that we must leave the door unlocked in case the Fire Department, our principal, parents, or Fr. McCormack wished to enter the room.
This young man was later identified as one of McCormack’s victims. That student was traumatized simply by being in the same building with Dan McCormack.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:31 pm:
it’s not just the acts of abuse, it’s the coverup. and while some might say, well, in many of these cases, they did not know about abuse from another diocese, that’s bad too. coverup and lack of analysis of whom they hire. either is bad. this is an institution that is pervasive in Chicago. It is hard to critique without seeming biased against the religion. but you know what? that’s on the religion. because acting in literally bad faith is an abomination against what they preach, God and love, when they administer with horrible hate. stop telling me what parish I live in. I don’t wish to be anywhere near your horrible horrible work.
- Rich Miller - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:32 pm:
I’m so sorry for all of your experiences that have poured out here today. My heart truly does go out to each and every one of you. I hope you can find peace. Y’all are a big part of my life, so hugs to everyone today.
- Demoralized - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:35 pm:
==the Diocese of Springfield has yet to reconcile itself with its past==
That’s probably because the Bishop is too busy hatemongering on other things.
- Squirrel - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:40 pm:
@Demoralized - you took the words right out of my mouth. At least now we have documented proof that he’s even more immoral than all of the “sinners” he rails against.
- Anyone Remember - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:56 pm:
” … this is only an American problem because they are so litigious.”
Ireland - two examples.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bon_Secours_Mother_and_Baby_Home#Mass_grave
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magdalene_Laundries_in_Ireland
This happed when Ireland banned abortion, divorce, and birth control. And the broadcaster RTE was censored.
- Cool Papa Bell - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 2:59 pm:
Please read the report. I read the section on Springfield.
I don’t have words appropriate for this blog to describe how I feel about Paprocki.
=As Abby put it, “there was a stubborn refusal to act for 17 years, and not until forced to do so by the Attorney General.” And when she met with Bishop Paprocki, he questioned Abby’s faith and told her that he is “the shepherd of souls.” The meeting left Abby shaking her head in amazement. Reflecting on it all, Abby simply says that “much work remains in order for the Diocese of Springfield and Bishop Paprocki to understand the needs of survivor healing.”=
- Diane - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:25 pm:
My thanks to you, Rich, and the AG for sharing this list of some of the lowest criminals imaginable.
- Suburban Mom - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:39 pm:
There’s a reason that the saying “The floor of hell is paved with the skulls of bishops” goes back to at least the 3rd century. Men in positions of religious authority have always used that authority to intimidate, silence, and lead astray the faithful. But Paprocki certainly ranks high on the list for utter shamelessness about it.
- MrMike - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 3:58 pm:
When I was an altar server in training, Lupo punched me in the mouth because I didn’t put the chalice in the correct spot in the safe. Not a full-on punch, but enough to get a fat lip. I quit shortly thereafter.
It’s very strange to see so many accolades of him on his obituary tribute wall.
- Medvale School for the Gifted - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:14 pm:
It seems that any church leader, the same ones who deny communion to pro choice politicians, should also deny themselves communion.
- Amalia - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 4:20 pm:
gonna be interesting the next time Paprocki issues a statement about another issue or appears in person about another issue. If it’s not followed up with reference to his coverup it will be journo fail.
- Nick Name - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 5:16 pm:
Two priests from my former parish, Our Savior in Jacksonville.
- Proud Papa Bear - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 5:38 pm:
I used to serve on the pastoral council at my (former) Catholic Church.
In a meeting, I pointed out that the doors which led to the CCD rooms should have windows on them for transparency. Another council member, a former Catholic science teacher, didn’t think it was a big deal because “I don’t think we have anyone here we need to worry about.”
The priest let that sink in a minute and replied, “it’s not a problem until it’s a problem.”
While I’ve never been a victim, one of my Newman Center priests and bishop in Tennessee were later found guilty of crimes against others.
- Dysfunction Junction - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 5:39 pm:
A priest from Elgin who ran overnight retreats in the Rockford diocese was listed. We all felt he was creepy, but didn’t know the details listed here. Scary.
- Justbabs - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 8:33 pm:
I say kudos to the government employees who lived with this these past six years. I cannot imagine listening to, hearing from, reading about for all that time. Reading the comments here breaks my heart. Six years with the survivors? I cannot begin to imagine.
- Been There - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 9:06 pm:
====That includes any state money going to the church, in any form.====
I would agree with you 100% except for the good that groups such as Catholic Charities does. I don’t participate except as noted by others for funerals and some weddings, etc. This is the most egregious things the church has done but not the only. Their stance on gay marriage doesn’t make any sense at all. What a terrible system billions of us bought into.
- Yooper in Diaspora - Tuesday, May 23, 23 @ 10:38 pm:
As someone who helped make a video long ago when young about clergy sexual abuse in a Lutheran congregation, and spoke on survivor panels, I have observed that the ways that abusive priests/pastors are protected varies with the structure. Those where congregational authority lies only in the local church have a different set of challenges (there’s no one from outside the congregation to intervene, as with a well-functioning episcopal structure). I’ll be curious if the report covers any of the sacramental desecration that accompanies those of us from the more liturgical churches.
- Amalia - Wednesday, May 24, 23 @ 5:25 am:
@Justbabs…spot on. If you know anyone who was on the team doing the work you know that it has been very painful. anyone who works with survivors of crimes knows not only the awful details but the ongoing pain. it’s tough experiencing someone’s awful. not the same but tough. kudos government workers.
- A-Man - Wednesday, May 24, 23 @ 8:26 am:
It’s no wonder people are fleeing organized religion like never before. Reminds me of the words carved into Auschwitz…”If there is a god, he will have to beg for my forgiveness.”