CHICAGO (IL)
CBS Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) – The Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago was scheduled to release thousands of pages of internal documents tied to 36 priests who sexually abused children.
It will be the second time this year the church has made public secret files regarding substantiated allegations of sex abuse by clergy. In January, the archdiocese released approximately 6,000 pages of documents detailing what it knows about decades of sex abuse allegations against 30 other priests.
At 9 a.m., the church will release 15,000 more pages of documents, showing how it handled allegations against 36 priests. The vast majority of the cases happened before 1988, according to the archdiocese. In some cases, the allegations date back more than 60 years. The documents will be posted on the Archdiocesan website, www.archchicago.org.
“As we said in January, we are committed to transparency with the people we serve,” Cardinal Francis George said in a written statement. “We cannot change the past but we hope we can rebuild trust through honest and open dialogue. Child abuse is a crime and a sin. The Archdiocese of Chicago is concerned first and foremost with bringing healing to abuse victims.”
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