Cardinal Blasé Cupich's deep dive into Illinois AG Kwame Raoul's accusations that the Catholic Church is hiding child sex abusing priests.
The charge got lots of print and air time, but in the interest of fairness and objectivity, is the full story told?
Holy Name Cathedral
The Catholic Church’s handling of child sex abuse charges against its priests has been horrific, astonishing and deeply sinful. The unrepentant abusers and their protectors should be roasting in hell.
To know that we didn’t need Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s “blockbuster” report on priests abusing children. But I’m not sure it tells the whole story.
I’ve written often about the scandal, demanding full disclosure and an all-out effort to stamp out the problem. I’ve also written positively about my parish priests who demonstrated sincere and full remorse for the victims.
And yet…
So many chapters have played out in this decades-long story that taking a deep breathe to consider the complexities and nuances is recommended.
So, here I am providing—admittedly—one side of the story that gets not enough attention—undeservedly: The Catholic Church. You can google Cardinal Blasé Cupich and priest sex scandal and find plenty of coverage and commentary on Raul’s accusation will pop up. Much of it takes Raul’s report as the complete and accurate story.
But it strikes me that more explaining is required. It’s provided by Cupich and the Chicago Archdiocese. At great length. It raises questions about the accuracy of Raul’s report.
For that reason, I am posting the church’s full explanation below, in text and video. I’m not saying which side is right; as usual in these matters, an element of truth. But everyone deserves the complete story.
A press release:
Archdiocese of Chicago Publishes Updated List of Clerics with Substantiated Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor
New list is the result of the archdiocese’s work with the Illinois Attorney General’s Office on disclosure policies
Español | Polski
The Archdiocese of Chicago has updated its list of clerics with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor. Every archdiocesan cleric (ordained priest or deacon) added to the list today was previously reported to law enforcement authorities, as were those already on the list. All of the extern priests and most of the religious order priests have been previously listed on the websites of their respective home diocese or religious orders. The vast majority of these cases are many decades old and the priests listed are deceased or long out of ministry. Three categories have been affected or added: [My emphasis.]
Archdiocesan priests with allegations brought forward after their death – previously these allegations were not referred to the Independent Review Board (IRB) because the IRB’s mission, to advise on the fitness for ministry and risk to children of men so accused, is made moot in the case of deceased clerics. Under the new policy, the IRB reviewed the files of deceased priests with two or more allegations against them and made a determination whether there was sufficient basis to add their names to the list. Going forward, allegations against deceased priests who are not already on the list will be sent to the IRB.
Extern priests – priests from other dioceses. Extern priests listed have served in an archdiocesan ministry and have substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor as adjudicated and substantiated by their home dioceses. The home diocese has responsibility for making such determinations and we are publishing the result of their process as a service to the faithful. Questions about these cases should be directed to the diocese making the determination. A link to the respective diocese’s weblist, if available is included in the listing.
Religious order priests – priests who are members of the more than 100 religious orders that serve or reside in the archdiocese. Religious order priests listed have served in archdiocesan ministries and have allegations of sexual abuse of a minor against them that have been substantiated by the order’s process. The religious order has responsibility for making such determinations and we are publishing the result of their process as a service to the faithful. Questions about these cases should be directed to the religious order making the determination. A link to the respective order’s weblist, if available is included in the listing.
“The list expansion represents many months of work involving researching records and communicating with religious orders and dioceses,” said James Geoly, general counsel of the Archdiocese of Chicago. “Since the beginning of the Attorney General’s investigation, we have cooperated fully. The Attorney General has reviewed the archdiocese’s policies, including its web site disclosures, and has made many constructive recommendations about ways to improve transparency and address the needs of survivors. Our policies are always being reviewed and improved, and we appreciate the Attorney General’s contributions to that process. It is important to note that every archdiocesan cleric added to the list today was previously reported to law enforcement authorities. In addition, the vast majority of these cases are many decades old and the priests listed are deceased or long out of ministry.”
The Archdiocese of Chicago began publishing a list of archdiocesan priests with substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of a minor in 2006. It was one of the first dioceses to do so and has updated the list as needed over the past 16 years.
Here’s Cupich’s explanation:
If you’re still with me, where is more information.
Charts and Data
The archdiocese has substantiated at least one allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against 80 clerics, who are identified on the archdiocese’s weblist of Clergy with Allegations of Sexual Abuse of a Minor Substantiated by the Archdiocese. For each allegation that has been made against those clerics (and was either substantiated by the archdiocese’s Review Board or presented and settled as a legal claim), this chart reflects the years when the allegations were reported to the archdiocese, together with the years of the first alleged incidents of abuse. Report counts (orange bars) are based on the dates that the allegations were reported to the archdiocese. Incident counts (blue line) are presented as the five-year rolling average of the number of alleged first incidents of abuse in each year.
Key Dates:
197850% of INCIDENTS occured before 1978
1992Archdiocese of Chicago Misconduct Policy established
2002January – Boston series; June – U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopts the “Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People”
2014Archdiocese of Chicago publishes priest file material online
Notes:
Allegations against Daniel McCormack are not included.
The Review Board did not review allegations against (a) deceased priests after March 2003 or (b) resigned or laicized priests after November 2010. Pursuant to policies effective April 2023, the Review Board now reviews allegations against deceased or departed clerics where the cleric is not already identified on the archdiocese’s website.
Congratulations to those who made it through this post. You are judged to be fair and smart.