CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
BY JON SEIDEL Staff Reporter January 24, 2014
The retired Catholic bishop said he “took it for granted” that sexual abuse of a child at the hands of an adult was a crime.
And Raymond Goedert testified in his 2007 deposition that he “obviously” knew as much when he became the Archdiocese of Chicago’s vicar for priests in July 1987. He said that role essentially made him “pastor to the priests,” according to a transcript of that interview.
It was also his job, he said, to deal with allegations of sexual misconduct between minors and members of the clergy. Goedert testified that priests confronted at the time with such allegations “frequently, if not almost always, admitted” to it.
But he said he never called police. Goedert contended clergy at the time were not “mandated reporters” — required under Illinois law to report suspected child abuse to the authorities.
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