ILLINOIS
Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests
For immediate release: Wednesday, Feb. 25
Statement by David Clohessy of St. Louis, Director of SNAP, the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests ( 314 566 9790, SNAPclohessy@aol.com, davidgclohessy@gmail.com )
A Catholic priest who was arrested in Chicago and was at Loyola University may plead guilty today in Detroit to “secretly recording” teenagers in a locker room there.
(NOTE: This is a different priest than the one just arrested on child porn charges in Arlington Heights.)
Sadly, the priest, Fr. Richard James Kurtz, pled guilty earlier to sexually assaulting a child in Colorado. The question now is: What will Chicago’s archbishop do to find and help others he may have hurt?
[WILX]
If history is any guide, we suspect that Archbishop Blasé Cupich will do little or nothing. And (just like we are doing with in the new case of accused Arlington Heights sex offender Fr. Clovis Vilchez-Parra) we beg Cupich to get out from behind his desk, overrule his timid lawyers, and act like a real shepherd. We beg him to help law enforcement get Fr. Kurtz locked up for as long as possible by helping to bring forward other victims, witnesses and whistleblowers.
Imagine Cupich holding a news conference at Loyola and saying “Look, for centuries, our church hierarchy has enabled sex offender clergy to escape prosecution. I can’t un-do this awful history. But I can try right now to help make sure that Fr. Kurtz is successfully prosecuted and kept away from kids. That’s why I’m here: to insist that you call law enforcement if you saw, suspected or suffered crimes by him.”
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