Article Title
Catholic Church in Illinois Withheld Names of at Least 500 Priests Accused of Abuse, Attorney General Says
Link to Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/12/19/us/illinois-attorney-general-catholic-church-priest-abuse.html
Source: New York Times
Author(s): Laurie Goodstein and Monica Davey
Date: December 19, 2018
Synopsis of Article
Six Catholic dioceses in Illinois withheld names of 500 priests accused of sexually abusing minors. The church neglected to investigate allegations.
Issued on December 19, 2018 by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, the report, which is preliminary, concludes that “the Catholic dioceses in Illinois are incapable of investigating themselves and ‘will not resolve the clergy sexual abuse crisis on their own.’”
Allegations were lodged against 690 priests but only 185 names were released as having been found to be credibly accused.
Only nine pages long, the Illinois preliminary report does not identify the priests who have been accused or name specific bishops for negligence.
Diocesan files showed that three quarters of the abuse allegations were either not investigated by the dioceses or investigated but not substantiated.
According to the article:
A pattern emerged from the files in which dioceses often failed to find a claim credible if there was only one victim, the report said. They also failed to investigate at all if the accused priest was deceased or reassigned, or belonged to a religious order (such as the Franciscans, Marists or Jesuits). The dioceses often discredited survivors’ claims by “focusing on the survivors’ personal lives,” the report said.
“The priority has always been in protecting priests and protecting church assets,” Ms. Madigan said in an interview. “Time and time again, the church says, ‘Well, this all took place years and years ago.’ But it’s a crisis in the present for all the people who have had to live with it.”