CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya Brachear Pashman
Tribune reporter
8:21 p.m. CST, January 26, 2014
Three deceased Archdiocese of Chicago priests accused of sexually abusing minors were the focus of anti-abuse activists’ scrutiny Sunday that also drew attention to protocols church officials used to withhold their identities until last week.
Abuse victims’ attorneys released thousands of pages of archdiocese files last Tuesday detailing allegations against 30 priests accused of sexually abusing minors. In the files, the archdiocese was for the first time identifying three of them: Kenneth Brigham, Emmanuel Pallikunnen and Thomas Kelly.
The three priests were the only ones in the files without church-substantiated allegations against them but were the subject of settlements paid out by the archdiocese.
Church officials cite a long-standing policy of not identifying priests accused of abuse after their death. Against the archdiocese’s wishes, Kelly’s name was reported in the Tribune in 2005. But the others remained secret. Kelly died in 1990.
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