Men Settle Abuse Case against US Jesuits
Big Pond News AUSTRALIA
Internal church records just released show Chicago Jesuits concealed the crimes of convicted sex offender Donald McGuire for more than 40 years as the prominent Roman Catholic priest continued to sexually abuse dozens of children around the globe. One letter written in 1970 by the Reverend John H Reinke, then president of Loyola Academy in Illinois, described McGuire's presence at the school as 'positively destructive and corrosive'. Instead of insisting he be removed from ministry or sent to treatment, he suggested a transfer to Loyola University. 'This whole situation has been so muddy and troublesome I just wanted to get it out of my mind from time to time,' wrote Reinke, who died in 2003. The documents contributed to a $US19.6 million ($A20.09 million) settlement between the Jesuits and six men from four different states announced on Tuesday. With an average payout of $US3 million per person, the amount per individual is the largest in the history of the US Catholic sex abuse crisis, the victims' lawyers said. The settlement against the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus doesn't name any priests accused of abusing minors who have not been previously disclosed to the public, but it does name a number of superiors who for four decades kept McGuire's crimes a secret and, say the victims' lawyers, enabled him to abuse more young men. To date, lawyers have identified 28 men who allege abuse by McGuire from the 1960s until 2004. Eight have filed lawsuits. 'Jesuits made choices time and time again that demonstrated willful indifference,' said Jeff Anderson, the plaintiffs' lawyer. 'Not one Jesuit official has yet to be prosecuted for their complicity in these crimes.' The Reverend Timothy Kesicki, who leads the area's Jesuits, said in a statement that the order is 'painfully aware' that it made mistakes. 'More important, we failed to listen to those who came forward and to meet their courage in dealing with Donald McGuire as we should have,' said Kesicki. McGuire is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted in several sex abuse cases.
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