CHICAGO (IL)
Archdiocese of Chicago IL
August 1, 2022
Under Mollo the office will continue to respond to current victim assistance and investigative needs
The Archdiocese of Chicago today announced the appointment of Mario Mollo as the Director of its Office for the Protection of Children and Youth (OPCY). Mollo has more than 25 years’ experience with the Illinois State Police (ISP), including its Special Investigations Unit (SIU) and extensive involvement in peer and youth counseling and mentorship. He replaced Mary Jane Doerr, who had been in the position since 2016.
“We are pleased to have attracted a leader for our Office for the Protection of Children and Youth who has devoted his life to justice and healing,” said Bishop Robert Casey, Vicar General of the Archdiocese. “Mario will build on the fine work of his predecessors, continuing their commitment to pastoral care, transparency and cooperation with civil authorities. He is aware of the archdiocese’s pioneering working in preventing abuse and helping survivors and their families in their healing journey.”
Mollo joined the ISP in 1995 and has led criminal investigations of elected officials on local, county and state levels since the SIU was established two years ago. He was also an instructor at the ISP Academy and helped counsel fellow officers as a member of the ISP’s Peer Support program. He is certified through the International Critical Incident Stress Foundation and volunteers as a member of the Northern Illinois – Critical Incident Stress Management team.
In addition, Mollo has been active in numerous community volunteer efforts over the past 25 years. He coached baseball, basketball and soccer for 14 years, and served on his local Little League board. He established and served in an athletic director position for a Catholic school for more than three years. Mollo served on leadership committees for his local elementary school district and as a trustee for his local township. As a 20-year cancer survivor, he volunteers for various cancer organizations.
A native of Chicago’s Bridgeport neighborhood, Mollo graduated from Saint Ignatius College Prep and holds a bachelor’s in Criminal Justice with a minor in Spanish from Saint Mary’s University, Winona, Minn. He earned a master’s in Public Administration and a Child Advocacy Studies Certification from the University of Illinois in Springfield, where he was inducted into the Pi Alpha Alpha National Honor Society.
Mollo has been married to his college sweetheart for more than 25 years, and they are proud of their children who have received a quality Catholic education from elementary through graduate school.
The archdiocese’s OPCY is widely recognized as one of the first such efforts in the U.S. Catholic Church. For more than three decades, it has consistently led in the formulation and implementation of policies for victim assistance, the prevention of child sexual abuse, and the reporting and adjudication of clergy abuse allegations. The office works collaboratively with civil authorities in Cook and Lake counties. For more information click here.