CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
BY FRANCINE KNOWLES Religion Reporter January 15, 2014
In the past, priests from the Archdiocese of Chicago with substantiated allegations of child sex abuse were sometimes relocated to another parish, but that wasn’t a cover-up, an archdiocese representative said Wednesday — the same day local church officials released documents to attorneys detailing accusations against dozens of priests.
The relocations happened “after” the priests underwent therapy, Bishop Francis Kane, vicar general of the archdiocese, told reporters at the archdiocese’s Near North Side offices. “You wouldn’t do that today. That’s something we learned.
“One of the things that we’ve learned is that we sent people off for evaluation and we got reports back saying. . .it’s safe to put them back in ministry” with monitoring, Kane said. “We found out that isn’t true. That was a mistake. We didn’t realize the depth of this terrible, terrible sin and crime . . . child sex abuse.”
The documents released to attorneys representing those who filed sex abuse lawsuits won’t be made public for at least a week, but Kane told reporters on Wednesday what the public can expect, including details about priest relocations.
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