CHICAGO (IL)
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release – Wednesday, February 05, 2014
Statement by Kate Bochte, SNAP member ( 630 768 1860, keight@sbcglobal.ne t)
It took almost nine years – and dozens of lawsuits – to get records on 30 archdiocesan predator priests released by the Chicago archdiocese.
That’s fewer than half of the 65 predator priests George admits to, and less than one fourth of the 121 predator priests listed by an independent group called BishopAccountability.org.
So at this rate, we’ll get another 35 predator priests’ records in around 2025, assuming that dozens more victims file dozens more lawsuits and insist on more disclosure.
And we’ll never see the records of the other 56 predator priests who worked and abused in the Chicago archdiocese but who George refuses to take any responsibility for (because another Catholic entity, a religious order, signs their paychecks).
According to the Tribune, “The archdiocese said it is developing a method to release the rest of the files.” What “method” is needed?
It’s not rocket science. Someone has to read the files and redact the names of victims, then release them. That’s it. Each file might take a day or two, but not more. (Recall that last month, victims’ attorneys got 6,000 pages of records. A week later, they were able to make those records available to the public.)
Keep in mind too that Catholic employees are members of a feudal system. They aren’t union employees. They can’t sue Cardinal George if they feel he’s been unfair to them. (We know of only a handful of cases in which predator priests have sued their bishops. We know of no cases in which those predator priests have succeeded.)
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