ILLINOIS
Chicago Tribune
By Steve Schmadeke
Tribune reporter
10:01 a.m. CDT, May 15, 2013
Five men who allege they were sexually abused by priests in the Diocese of Joliet in the 1970s and 1980s sued the diocese today in Will County circuit court.
The men, who say they repressed memories of the abuse until recent media reports that accompanied the release by the diocese of personnel files of priests with substantiated allegations against them, allege they were between 8 and 16 when it happened.
Their lawsuits allege the diocese allowed known or suspected pedophile priests to have access to young boys who were allegedly abused on church retreats and even in the back row of a school classroom. One boy was allegedly told to strip out of his clothes and wear a loincloth so the priest could practice giving funeral rites.
The boys attended St. Boniface Catholic Church in Monee, St. Charles Borremeo Seminary in Joliet, St. Dominic Catholic Church in Bolingbrook, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Bolingbrook and St. Mary Nativity School in Joliet.
All of the named priests – Myles White of St. Boniface, Michael Gibbney of St. Francis of Assisi, Frederick Lenczycki of St. Charles Borremeo Seminary and James Nowak of St. Dominic – were removed from ministry between 1992 and 2012, according to a release from the plaintiff’s attorneys. At least one was convicted of sexual abuse and one is deceased.
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