More than 450 credibly accused child sex abusers have ministered in the Catholic Church in Illinois over almost seven decades, the office of the state’s attorney general, Kwame Raoul, said Tuesday in an investigative report. That is more than four times the number that the church had publicly disclosed before 2018, when the state began its investigation.
The 696-page report found that clergy members and lay religious brothers had abused at least 1,997 children since 1950 in the state’s six dioceses, including the prominent Archdiocese of Chicago.
The report adds 149 names to lists of child sex abusers whom the dioceses themselves had publicly identified before or during the investigation. That brings the total number of identified abusers to 451, the report says. None of them are known to be in active ministry, and at least 330 are believed to have died.
The 149 new names are mostly religious brothers, who are accountable primarily to independent religious orders rather than to local dioceses and bishops.
Investigators interviewed hundreds of victims, and matched their accounts with diocesan records and other interviews to substantiate their accounts. Investigators also reviewed more than 100,000 pages of files held by the dioceses, and interviewed church leaders and their representatives.
One case among many documented in the report involves Thomas Francis Kelly, a priest who abused more than 15 boys ranging in age from 11 to 17 in several parishes in the 1960s and 1970s. Three victims contacted the attorney general’s investigators, including one who described being singled out by Father Kelly as an 11-year-old altar server. The priest invited the boy to drive-in movies and to spend the night in the rectory, where the priest offered him beer. The boy awoke in the night to find Father Kelly performing oral sex on him, the report says.
The archdiocese moved the priest from parish to parish, the attorney general’s report notes. The priest died in 1990.
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Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
Where are the damn prosecutions? Anyone Catholic on this forum should be embarrassed about this, unless you feel this is acceptable. The silence on this matter is stunning.
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Re: Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
I grew up Catholic, my Mom's side is all Catholic, My Dad was raised Catholic but his side has a lot of Lutheran too. My experience with The Catholic was not good, long story but nothing bad happened to me per see. Went to a United Methodist Church with an EX of mine, the people were super nice and the pastor seemed like a decent guy.
I'm Atheist but am Civil with people of faith.
I'm Atheist but am Civil with people of faith.
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Re: Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
My mother grew up Catholic and her mother (my grandmother) was a devout Catholic until her passing a year and a half ago. While I like Pope Francis, and many of the people inside the church are nice enough, the denomination's beliefs are dated and flawed which makes it hard to support the Catholic Church in general. The Christian denomination I grew up with and still believe in is, Presbyterian Church U.S.A., which is very progressive and welcoming toward everybody. Both the current and former Pastors from my Church are great guys. I don't go to church much anymore but am still a man of faith.
Re: Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
Spent every weekend as a kid going to Mass and did the communion/reconciliation/confirmation bit... once I got to HS and had a job I was out. Already had H*** questions and issues with the church at 15 years old and I couldn't do it anymore. "Married or Buried" is the only way I'll set foot inside a church anymore... the hypocrisy and horseshit within the Catholic Church isn't something I'm willing to overlook.
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Re: Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
I was raised Catholic, too. St. Dorothy's in Warren. Old school Polish Catholicism. Catechism, confirmation, all that good stuff.
I left the church around the time I was 17 or so. I just couldn't handle the constant guilt all the time. Sin this, forgiveness that, no matter what, you were never good enough for Christ and you need to crawl to him on your knees and all that. Sorry, I don't need a middleman between myself and God. And, as noted, many parts of the Catholic church are primitive. Be a decent person, help the next person, be loving, that's good enough for me. A man in a relationship with another man? Awesome. Dress like a woman? Good for you. Identify as an earthworm? Enjoy!
I left the church around the time I was 17 or so. I just couldn't handle the constant guilt all the time. Sin this, forgiveness that, no matter what, you were never good enough for Christ and you need to crawl to him on your knees and all that. Sorry, I don't need a middleman between myself and God. And, as noted, many parts of the Catholic church are primitive. Be a decent person, help the next person, be loving, that's good enough for me. A man in a relationship with another man? Awesome. Dress like a woman? Good for you. Identify as an earthworm? Enjoy!
"Internet is no more like radio than intravenous feeding is like fine dining."
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-TurkeyTop
Re: Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
I ID as a Cat . Yeah.... and also like one other poster said, its outdated and stodgy. The Hypocrisy of some of the stuff and yes the whole " Guilt thing" which took till my mid late 20s to overcome and even honestly tried the whole praying to make stuff in my head go away.Mega Hertz wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 7:14 pm I was raised Catholic, too. St. Dorothy's in Warren. Old school Polish Catholicism. Catechism, confirmation, all that good stuff.
I left the church around the time I was 17 or so. I just couldn't handle the constant guilt all the time. Sin this, forgiveness that, no matter what, you were never good enough for Christ and you need to crawl to him on your knees and all that. Sorry, I don't need a middleman between myself and God. And, as noted, many parts of the Catholic church are primitive. Be a decent person, help the next person, be loving, that's good enough for me. A man in a relationship with another man? Awesome. Dress like a woman? Good for you. Identify as an earthworm? Enjoy!
The whole thing " Your never good enough" has always bothered me and some of my family have that attitude. I gave up on trying to please them. Ok, this is kind of dramatic sounding but " Oh you wouldn't have social anxiety and learning problems if your faith was stronger" . So.... it's my fault I'm Autistic( very high functioning) and my brain is wired different. So because I didn't pray is the reason I've had panic attacks before. Yeah... not buying it.
The politics thing got me trouble with a couple of people who I knew most of my life and were Catholic. IN 2004 for being pretty outspoken about Bush. A mother of a childhood friend and a neighbor( I still lived at home then) because I had a Kerry/Edwards Sticker on my Truck. Kerry did Win MI, which for what it was worth was pretty satisfying.
Yeah, The Catholic Church is a no go for me. Come to think of it, the last time I was in one was for my Grandpa's funeral in 2005. Only way I will go into one is for a funeral I'm obligated to go to or a Wedding.
Presbyterians seem pretty rational, like a lot of Methodist's and Episcopalians
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Re: Illinois Priests Abuse 1900 Minors
I've been in Catholic churches probably a dozen times over my life, mainly for my grandparent's anniversaries and funerals. My aunt and uncle and their two children used to go to a Catholic church but gave up on the specific church entirely when their daughter, who needed special education, wasn't treated well and had problems learning. My older brother went to the Catholic Church's school near where we live, even though we're Presbyterian. That particular church was also our polling place until the start of this year.Riff Raff wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 11:39 pmI ID as a Cat . Yeah.... and also like one other poster said, its outdated and stodgy. The Hypocrisy of some of the stuff and yes the whole " Guilt thing" which took till my mid late 20s to overcome and even honestly tried the whole praying to make stuff in my head go away.Mega Hertz wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 7:14 pm I was raised Catholic, too. St. Dorothy's in Warren. Old school Polish Catholicism. Catechism, confirmation, all that good stuff.
I left the church around the time I was 17 or so. I just couldn't handle the constant guilt all the time. Sin this, forgiveness that, no matter what, you were never good enough for Christ and you need to crawl to him on your knees and all that. Sorry, I don't need a middleman between myself and God. And, as noted, many parts of the Catholic church are primitive. Be a decent person, help the next person, be loving, that's good enough for me. A man in a relationship with another man? Awesome. Dress like a woman? Good for you. Identify as an earthworm? Enjoy!
The whole thing " Your never good enough" has always bothered me and some of my family have that attitude. I gave up on trying to please them. Ok, this is kind of dramatic sounding but " Oh you wouldn't have social anxiety and learning problems if your faith was stronger" . So.... it's my fault I'm Autistic( very high functioning) and my brain is wired different. So because I didn't pray is the reason I've had panic attacks before. Yeah... not buying it.
The politics thing got me trouble with a couple of people who I knew most of my life and were Catholic. IN 2004 for being pretty outspoken about Bush. A mother of a childhood friend and a neighbor( I still lived at home then) because I had a Kerry/Edwards Sticker on my Truck. Kerry did Win MI, which for what it was worth was pretty satisfying.
Yeah, The Catholic Church is a no go for me. Come to think of it, the last time I was in one was for my Grandpa's funeral in 2005. Only way I will go into one is for a funeral I'm obligated to go to or a Wedding.
Presbyterians seem pretty rational, like a lot of Methodist's and Episcopalians
The one Presbyterian pastor I had for years, his wife was raised Methodist, so after he retired and when he's not doing what's called "pulpit supply", attend a Methodist Church near where they live.
My father was raised Southern Baptist and while the pastors were great guys, it's definitely more extreme than other denominations.