CHICAGO (IL)
Times Colonist (Canada)
Tammy Webber / The Associated Press
January 20, 2014
CHICAGO – Thousands of pages of documents showing how the Archdiocese of Chicago handled the sexual abuse of children by priests will be made public Tuesday, providing the broadest look yet into the details of what the church knew and did — or didn’t do — about the scandal.
The archdiocese, one of the largest and most influential in the U.S., handed over last week more than 6,000 pages of documents to victims’ attorneys, who said they will show the archdiocese concealed abuse for decades, including moving priests to new parishes where they molested again.
The disclosures involving 30 priests were made as part of legal settlements with abuse victims, and are similar to disclosures made in other dioceses in the U.S. in recent years that showed how the Roman Catholic Church shielded priests and failed for many years to report child sex abuse to authorities.
Chicago officials said most of the abuse occurred before 1988 and none after 1996.
Debra Brian, a 24-year-old Catholic from Chicago, had not yet seen or heard what was included in the documents, but said Sunday that the church is doing the right thing by acknowledging what occurred.
“Hopefully it will help people come forward,” said Brian.
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