MICHIGAN
WOOD
[with video]
By Rachel Zoll and Tammy Webber, Associated Press
Updated: Wednesday, January 22, 2014
CHICAGO (AP) — Top leaders at the Archdiocese of Chicago helped hide the sexual abuse of children as they struggled to contain a growing crisis, according to thousands of pages of internal documents that raise new questions about how Cardinal Francis George handled the allegations even after the church adopted reforms.
The documents, released through settlements between attorneys for the archdiocese and victims, describe how priests for decades were moved from parish to parish while the archdiocese hid the clerics’ histories from the public, often with the approval of the late Cardinals John Cody and Joseph Bernardin.
Although the abuse documented in the files occurred before George became archbishop in 1997, many victims did not come forward until after he was appointed and after U.S. bishops pledged in 2002 to keep all accused priests out of ministry.
Priest Michael Howard Weston, who was among the alleged abusers, was at one time the chaplain for Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo Valley College.
What brought him to West Michigan is one of the major complaints in the Chicago abuse coverup: Even after serious allegations came forward, accused priests were allowed to move away and preach elsewhere.
Weston was a priest in the Chicago area in the 1970s when the allegations were made. At least one victim claimed Weston had sexually assaulted him, saying Weston massaged him and touched him while the two were nude.
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