ILLINOIS
Effingham Daily News
Posted: Sunday, May 3, 2015
Bishop Thomas John Paprocki spoke today with parishioners of Sigel, Neoga, Green Creek and Lillyville regarding the status of the case concerning Father Robert “Bud” DeGrand.
Bishop Paprocki stated that progress on the case has been impeded consistently by Father DeGrand’s lack of cooperation. Bishop Paprocki reviewed with parishioners what has transpired:
In January 2014 the Diocesan Review Board unanimously found that the allegation against Father Robert DeGrand of clerical sexual misconduct with a minor was credible.
On September 20, 2014, Bishop Paprocki met with parishioners in Sigel and reported that Father DeGrand’s case was pending at the Vatican Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith.
One week later, Bishop Paprocki received a letter from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith referring the case back to him. The letter was dated September 10, 2014; however, due to the time it takes for mail to be sent from the Vatican by diplomatic channels through the Vatican’s Embassy in Washington, D.C., the letter did not arrive until after the September 20, 2014 meeting in Sigel.
A rumor circulated that the letter from the Vatican “cleared” Father DeGrand and dismissed the charges against him. That rumor was not and is not true. The Vatican letter stated that a canonical trial could not take place due to “prescription,” which is the terminology used in canon law to describe the more familiar “statute of limitations” in civil law, which in most cases, prevents initiating legal action because the passage of time since the allegation was filed exceeds a certain time frame. It should be noted that Bishop Paprocki requested that the Vatican issue a waiver of prescription allowing a trial to proceed to determine Father DeGrand’s guilt or innocence, however, Father DeGrand did not agree and instead insisted that the trial be barred.
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