Catholic Church in Illinois Withheld Names of at Least 500 Priests Accused of Abuse, Attorney General Says
Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, center, the archbishop of Chicago. “I want to express again the profound regret of the whole church for our failures to address the scourge of clerical sexual abuse,” he said in a statement
The
Catholic Church in Illinois withheld the names of at least 500 priests
accused of sexual abuse of minors, the state’s attorney general said
Wednesday in a scathing report that accused the church of failing
victims by neglecting to investigate their allegations.
The
preliminary report by Attorney General Lisa Madigan concludes that the
Catholic dioceses in Illinois are incapable of investigating themselves
and “will not resolve the clergy sexual abuse crisis on their own.”
Cardinal
Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, said in a statement, “I
want to express again the profound regret of the whole church for our
failures to address the scourge of clerical sexual abuse.
“It is the courage of victim-survivors that has shed purifying light on this dark chapter in church history.”
Ms.
Madigan, a Democrat who served four terms as Illinois’ attorney general
and is the daughter of the state’s powerful and longtime speaker of the
House, is days away from leaving office. She chose not to run again.
Kwame
Raoul, a fellow Democrat who will replace Ms. Madigan in January, said
he was committed to continuing the investigation Ms. Madigan had begun.
He said he would work closely with prosecutors around the state on the
issue.
“Today’s news demonstrates the
need for ongoing diligence in investigating crimes against children
taking place within institutions that do not have a history of
unilateral, proactive transparency,” he said in a statement, in which he
praised Ms. Madigan for initiating the investigation.