Statements

Please join me in praying for the continued recovery of former president Donald Trump, for his family, as well as for the other victims of yesterday’s horrific assassination attempt, one of whom has died. The FBI has announced that the suspect is a young man of just 20 years.

Cleveland; Philadelphia; Boston; Albany, New York; Detroit; Tampa, Florida; Connecticut; Chicago. They all have one thing in common: Deadly mass shootings over this year’s Fourth of July holiday weekend.

I denounce the vandalization that took place last evening at the Downtown Islamic Center in Chicago.

It is always a joy for me to be among friends, which is what I find in this room as we come together for this 2024 Annual Muslim – Catholic Iftar gathering. My thanks go to our hosts tonight, the Islamic Foundation – North, to President Ahmed Nader, Resident Scholar Sheikh Azfar Uddin, and the staff and community of this wonderful place of prayer and fellowship. Your warm welcome this evening is deeply appreciated.

Greg Richmond, superintendent of Schools for the Archdiocese of Chicago, released the following statement about the Illinois State Board of Education’s, “Evaluation of the Invest in Kids Act: Final Report.”

Today, with the approval of the Holy Father, the Dicastery of the Doctrine of the Faith issued the Declaration Fiducia supplicans. The Declaration clarifies that there are forms of blessings, as we see throughout the Scriptures, which are “poured out on others as a gesture of grace, protection, and goodness.” Consequently, it is now permissible for ordained ministers of the Church to “join in the prayer of those persons who, although in a union that cannot be compared in any way to a marriage, desire to entrust themselves to the Lord and his mercy, to invoke his help, and to be guided to a greater understanding of his plan of love and of truth.”

As the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe of the Archdiocese of Chicago prepares to welcome thousands of pilgrims on its grounds for the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, I extend my deepest gratitude to its Rector, the staff, and volunteers for all their hard work to make this wonderful ministry possible.

Warm greetings to you as you gather for Shabbat services this morning. Thank you to Rabbi Michael Siegel, Executive Director Mimi Weisberg, and the staff of Anshe Emet for such a gracious welcome. It may be a bit of an understatement to say that it is unusual to have a Catholic bishop speaking as part of your weekly shabbat service. Then again, these are not normal times.

Today, Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, notified eight parishes that he had asked Fr. William Killeen to step aside pending investigation of an allegation of child sexual abuse received this week. Father Killeen denies the allegation. The abuse is alleged to have occurred approximately 40 years ago at St. Patricia Parish in Hickory Hills.

Thank you for your patience and prayers during the absence of Father John Clemens. As I previously informed you, the Archdiocese received an allegation of child sexual abuse against Father Clemens dating back approximately fifty years ago.