NPR’s Scott Simon speaks to journalist Dan Ronan, who was sexually abused as a child by a Catholic priest in Chicago. A recently released report details widespread misconduct by Illinois clergy.

SCOTT SIMON, HOST:

A report from the Illinois attorney general’s office released this week says 451 Catholic priests abused at least 1,997 children across the state between 1950 and 2019. Previously, just two Roman Catholic dioceses in Illinois had released lists of substantiated allegations of abuse, saying just 103 priests or religious brothers had abused children during those seven decades.

We want to talk about one case for the next few minutes with a person who lived through that abuse. St. Jerome’s Parish, West Lunt Avenue in Chicago, just after mass one day in 1971, officiated by Father Thomas Gannon – one of the altar boys was an 11-year-old named Dan Ronan. Dan, today, is a journalist in Washington,…