Archdiocese of Chicago

In addition to the legal requirements of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act, all allegations of child sexual abuse received by the Archdiocese of Chicago have been promptly reported to the civil authorities.  These reports are made by letter to the state’s attorney of the county in which the abuse is alleged to have occurred no matter how long ago.  This practice has been formalized in a written protocol with the State’s Attorneys of Lake and Cook Counties.

The Archdiocese publishes a list on its website of Archdiocesan priests with substantiated allegations of sexual misconduct with minors at, www.archchicago.org/departments/ocair/report_032006/list.pdf .

The November 2, 2011 statement of the Illinois Bishops was addressed to Governor Pat Quinn because his active involvement with Personal PAC publicly aligns him with a politically partisan organization dedicated to electing pro-abortion candidates to public office.  The statement from the six Bishops responsible for the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Dioceses of Rockford, Peoria, Belleville, Springfield and Joliet was addressed only to Gov. Quinn, not to the organization or the recipient of their award.  In fact, Cardinal George was not informed about the rape victim or her personal story of sexual assault. 

The Cardinal deeply regrets that Ms. Goodman became the primary focus of the story because, “A rape victim demands all the respect and support that anybody can give.”  The Cardinal said, “As pastors of the Church, however, we cannot regret reminding the Governor of the great gap between his partisan public action and the moral teachings of the Catholic Church.  This inconsistency creates a moral problem for a Catholic believer and imposes a pastoral duty on Catholic Bishops to address the problem of personal complicity in moral evil.” 

As a matter of public policy, the Bishops and many others argue that our present abortion laws are offensive to the common good of society.  The Bishops’ message to Gov. Quinn has not been retracted.

The Cardinal addressed the question of his tenure in the following letter published in the March 27, 2011 edition of the Catholic New World and the on-line version.

Cardinal George's tenure

I have been receiving questions about my retirement. What is a normal process governed by the canon law of the church has become the subject of public speculation here.

Bishops, in accordance with church law, submit to the pope a letter of resignation from their pastoral responsibilities when they reach 75 years of age. I hope to do that on Jan. 16, 2012. The pope accepts the resignation and appoints a successor on his own timeline. Often, bishops remain in office for a year or so after their 75th birthday, if their health permits and their mental powers have not noticeably declined.

Bishops who are cardinals of the Roman Church sometimes remain in office some years longer. This is because cardinals continue to serve in the Roman Curia and as electors of the pope until they are 80 years of age, and there should not be more than one papal elector in any particular diocese. We have never experienced this problem in Chicago, since all my predecessors died before they were 75. I am eager to be the first Archbishop of Chicago to retire!

I am looking forward to meeting my successor. I pray for him every day and would encourage others to do the same.

Francis Cardinal George, OMI
Archbishop of Chicago

This is a completely false claim.  There are no priests in ministry in the Archdiocese of Chicago that have an affirmed claim of sexual abuse of a minor against them. 

Based on the analysis of the data in the VOTF study, the 65 credibly accused Archdiocese of Chicago priests were in approximately 40% of the parishes during a period that spans almost 100 years.

The Archdiocese did not know that a priest was engaging in child sexual abuse when they were assigned because most allegations came forward decades later.

This is clearly false and the VOTF study offers no research to support the statement.

Only 3 of the 13 zip codes mentioned in the VOTF study have high concentrations of African Americans.

The VOTF study does not include the corresponding zip-code information about the concentration of African Americans in the 1960s and 1970s when the majority of the abuse took place.

The Archdiocese did not know that a priest was engaging in child sexual abuse when they were assigned because most allegations came forward decades later.

This statement is not true and misleading.

The VOTF study’s data actually shows that about 61% of the assignments were in communities with income near or significantly above the average for Cook County.