“Over the last 20
years, numerous courageous survivors have spoken their truth and brought lawsuits
related to the sexual abuse of children in the Catholic Church in Illinois.
Survivors became plaintiffs in civil lawsuits and together with their attorneys
were able to reveal secret church records using the civil litigation process.
“These lawsuits
resulted in the release of identities and histories of sexually abusive
individuals and the release of documents and records reflecting the knowledge
of institutions that covered up the sexual abuse.
“The Anderson
Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in Illinois
contains the names of clerics, religious employees and seminarians associated
with Catholic Dioceses in the State of Illinois, including those who were
assigned within or working in Illinois, who have been accused of sexual misconduct
with minors. These dioceses include the Archdiocese of Chicago and Dioceses of
Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield.
“The information
in this Anderson Report is derived from publicly available sources, claims made
by survivors to the dioceses and religious orders responsible for the
offenders, and legal settlements made as a result of claims for child sexual
abuse.
“While lawsuits
were filed involving many of these alleged perpetrators, the vast majority of
the claims against these individuals have been settled or have not been fully
evaluated in a civil or criminal court. Accordingly, in most cases the
allegations have not been proved or substantiated in a court of law.
“Consequently,
unless otherwise indicated, all of the allegations should be considered just
allegations and should not be considered proven or substantiated in a court of
law. In some situations, the statute of limitations has expired preventing the
merits of the allegations from being considered by a court of law.
“It is believed
that the Dioceses in Illinois have not publicly made available the full
histories and their knowledge of their sexually abusive agents and employees.
The Anderson Report on Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in
Illinois is intended to raise awareness about the important issue of sexual
abuse, provide the public with vital information including assignment
histories, and provide awareness and healing to survivors of sexual abuse.
“Assignment
histories are approximations and were compiled from the Official Catholic
Directory, bishop accountability. org, statements attributed to Diocesan and
Religious officials, Diocesan and Religious records, and media reports…
Child Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in Illinois
“The Anderson Report on Child
Sexual Abuse in the Archdiocese and Dioceses in Illinois is intended to be a
chronology and analysis of the sexual abuse of children in Catholic
institutions within the State of Illinois, including a discussion of how the
highest Diocesan and Religious officials enabled the abusers and covered up
crimes of sexual misconduct and abuse.
“The data reveal
the horrifying scale of priests sexually assaulting minors to the present day.
The data collected illustrate the patterns and practices of Diocesan and
Religious officials, including orchestrating an institutional cover-up of
enormous magnitude. Perhaps most shocking among the discoveries is that some
perpetrators were intentionally transferred and retained in trusted positions
with direct access to children even after they were known to sexually abuse
children.
“Modern means of
analysis and availability of data through the Internet, social media, and
public information is exposing perpetrators who operated in these Dioceses, but
until full transparency and accountability exist, children remain in grave
danger.
“Historically,
the Archdiocese and Dioceses in Illinois, like many other archdioceses and
dioceses, knew of predator priests who posed a significant danger to children.
The sexual abuse of children has long been a crime in Illinois.
“However, Diocesan and Religious Order officials chose and continue to keep these crimes hidden, allowing their priests continued and unfettered access to children. During the 1980s and 1990s, occasional bits of information about abuse within Catholic institutions surfaced, but the Catholic Church’s strict policy of secrecy kept important information and the full extent of the problem hidden from the public. This has continued despite mandated reporting laws…
2018 Preliminary Findings of
the Investigation into Catholic Clergy Sexual Abuse of Minors in Illinois
“In 2018, the State of Illinois
Office of the Attorney General released preliminary findings of its
investigation into Catholic Clergy sexual abuse. During the first 4 months of
the investigation, the Office of Attorney General found:
• The scope of the problem of
clergy sexual abuse of minors in Illinois is significantly more extensive than
the Illinois Dioceses have reported.
• Illinois Dioceses disregarded
survivors and failed to investigate allegations of clergy sexual abuse.
• Increased transparency is
necessary for accountability and healing.
• The processes and practices put
in place by the Illinois Dioceses to respond to clergy sexual abuse are flawed.
• The investigatory processes
deployed by the Illinois Dioceses fail to prioritize the survivor and provide
healing.
• Illinois Dioceses will not
resolve the clergy sexual abuse crisis on their own.
“The Office of Attorney General’s
review determined that the Illinois Dioceses had received allegations related
to sexual abuse for approximately 690 clergy but had only publicly identified
185 clergy as being ‘credibly’ accused of sexual abuse.
“Jeff Anderson & Associates
believes that there are likely hundreds of alleged perpetrators within the
Dioceses and religious orders in Illinois whose names have never been made
public. The fight for information and the names of those alleged perpetrators
continues.
The Danger of Sexual Abuse in
the Catholic Church of Illinois Today
“The danger of sexual abuse in
Illinois is clearly a problem of today, not just the past. This will continue
to be a danger until the identities and histories of sexually abusive clerics,
religious employees and seminarians are made public…”
"An in-depth report released last week alleges that former Pope Benedict XVI allowed four abusive priests in Munich to remain in ministry. The pope, then known as Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, led the German archdiocese from 1977 to 1982. The 1,900-page audit was commissioned by the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising but conducted by independent investigators. It covers the period from 1945 to 2019 and lists 235 alleged clergy who were perpetrators of sexual abuse and at least 497 minors who were victims..." (APNews.com).
ReplyDelete"Pope Francis expressed sorrow Sunday [June 6] for the gruesome discovery of a mass grave in Canada containing the remains of hundreds of Indigenous children. The remains were found at a boarding school for Indigenous Canadians, operated by Catholic clergy.
ReplyDelete"'I join the Canadian Bishops and the whole Catholic Church in Canada in expressing my closeness to the Canadian people, who have been traumatized by this shocking news,' Francis told an audience in St. Peter's Square, according to a translation of prepared remarks. 'This sad discovery further heightens awareness of the pain and sufferings of the past.'
"The comments come about a week after the Tk'emlúps te Secwépemc First Nation in British Columbia announced that the remains of 215 children had been found on the grounds of the former boarding school. Indigenous Canadians had known for years that some children never returned from the schools, but this is the first time a major burial site has been discovered.
"Francis urged political and religious authorities in Canada to continue to work together 'to shed light on this sad event and humbly commit themselves to a path of healing and reconciliation.' It's important, he said, to 'turn away from the colonial model and also from the ideological colonizations of the present, and walk side by side in dialogue, mutual respect and recognition of the rights and cultural values of all the daughters and sons of Canada.'
"'We commend to the Lord the souls of all the children who have died in the Canadian residential schools, and we pray for the grief-stricken Indigenous families and communities of Canada,' Francis added.
"Although Francis expressed sorrow, he never explicitly apologized for the church's role in the forced reeducation of more than 150,000 children, who were taken from their homes over a period of 150 years during the 19th and 20th centuries. Many of the children were forced to become Christians, were forbidden from speaking their native languages, and were often abused. In 2015 a national commission condemned the treatment as 'cultural genocide'..." (NPR).
“…No American bishops or cardinals have ever been jailed for their role in covering up and enabling child sexual abuse. Civil settlements have held the Church accountable only financially. A combination of political complacency and expired statutes of limitations has prevented most survivors from obtaining real justice.
ReplyDelete“Outraged by this lack of justice, survivors urged the International Criminal Court at The Hague to investigate the Vatican for crimes against humanity. The International Criminal Court declined, citing the fact that many of the alleged crimes occurred before the court was formed, and were thus beyond the scope of the court’s ‘temporal jurisdiction.’
“To date, the highest-ranking priest tried in an American court is Philadelphia’s Monsignor William Lynn, who was charged with conspiracy and two counts of endangering children. His 2012 conviction for one count of endangerment was vacated by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2016. He now awaits an unscheduled retrial.
“Even as scholars and theologians have called for all of the American bishops to resign, there has been little talk of criminal prosecutions. If yesterday’s survivors do not find justice, tomorrow’s children will not know safety.
“As the Pennsylvania grand jury emphasized: ‘There have been other reports about child sexual abuse within the Catholic church… For many of us, those earlier stories happened someplace else, someplace away. Now we know the truth: it happened everywhere’” (The Guardian).
So, what should we say about the cultural genocide of the Mayan, Aztec and Inca civilizations; the Crusades; the French Religious Wars; the Spanish Inquisition (the Catholic Church's burnings and executions for heresy and its history of torture and terrorizing of Jews and Muslims); the Vatican's illicit financial partnership with Adolf Hitler and indifference to the Holocaust, the Northern Ireland conflict…? And what do we make of the Catholic Church's history of ignoring priestly pedophilia and its cultural genocide and deaths of Indigenous children by Catholic clergy? How can we reconcile with the Catholic Church's flagrant complicity and hypocrisy? -Glen Brown
ReplyDelete