CHICAGO (IL)
Jezebel
December 19, 2018
By Hannah Gold
A preliminary report by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan found that the church failed to publicize more than 500 priests who’d been accused of sexually abusing minors.
The New York Times reported on Wednesday that Madigan wrote in her findings that the state’s Catholic diocese are not fit to investigate themselves and “will not resolve the clergy sexual abuse crisis on their own.” According to the report, only 185 of a total 690 priests accused of abuse were reported by the church as having credible claims lodged against them. The Chicago Tribute reports that some of these allegations go back decades.
The report also states that 75 percent of the total abuse claims were either not investigated by the diocese, or were investigated but not substantiated. One apparent method by which claims were not substantiated was allegations brought forth by one victim were not advanced. Furthermore, diocese delegitimized claims by “focusing on the survivors’ personal lives.” Again, these are minors we are talking about.
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