CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
January 6. 2019
By Rick Kambic
In the final day of a weeklong retreat intended for U.S.-based Roman Catholic bishops to pray and reflect at a Mundelein seminary, small groups of protestors lined up outside the front gate to protest church officials’ handling of sexual abuse allegations.
Two groups took different actions Saturday afternoon, but police said officers stationed in the neighborhood issued no warnings and made no arrests.
First was a group of about 50 who said they were from Old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Chicago, according to Mundelein Police Chief Eric Guenther. He said the group mostly prayed on the grass for two hours before leaving in the early afternoon.
A second group arrived later and was led by Dakotah Norton, a former Mundelein trustee who resigned amid crisis in 2017. The protesters wielded colorful signs that prompted drivers to honk in support or yell criticism at the group of about 13.
“This is an entity that’s supposed to be trusted,” said Topacio Hernandez, who said she lives in Waukegan but grew up in Mundelein, of the Catholic Church. “I have a child now, and I read these articles and I’m appalled by the inactivity.”
Police said a third group traveled to Mundelein but Guenther said its leaders decided to hold a conference inside a local hotel and promised not to approach the seminary without first applying for a permit.
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