CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
Editorial
Years ago, some victims of clergy abuse in the Archdiocese of Chicago began an effort to uncover the truth and hold the abusers responsible for their actions.
At the time, it seemed a fool’s errand, doomed to go nowhere in the face of an institution determined to dig in and protect its image.
Nevertheless, that effort broke the silence. Over the years much of the horrifying story has come out, and on Tuesday, as part of a negotiated deal, lawyers for some of the abuse victims released thousands of pages of once-private church documents that cast further light on the full extent to which the archdiocese failed to protect children.
Although redacted, the pages tell the story of an institution that quietly returned known abusers to ministries where they could resume their predatory behavior, hid information about their backgrounds and misled the public about the depth of the problem. Assurances to families that abusers would have no further contact with children proved to be untrue, as the offending priests were reassigned elsewhere. Details of allegations were not immediately reported to law enforcement authorities, although the church said it followed the law as it existed at the time and that all cases eventually were reported.
On Tuesday, the archdiocese admitted it “made some decisions decades ago that are now difficult to justify” and said it’s committed to reaching out to victims and protecting all children. Legal settlements have been reached in some cases.
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