Fr. Dominic Aloysius Diederich
Monsignor. Pastor of St. Maurice 1942-1966, Pastor Emeritus 1966-1977. Died 4/24/1977. On 1/31/2006 the Archdiocese confirmed that church officials had reason to believe since 1994 that Diederich had engaged in sexual misconduct with a child. The admission came after a woman confronted Cardinal George about Diederich at a public meeting on 1/30/2006. In 1994 another woman received a settlement after reporting sexual abuse by Diederich as a child at St. Maurice School. After publicity in 2006, more women came forward with allegations of abuse by him as girls at St. Maurice. There were at least seven victims, all young girls from economically disadvantaged families. The Archdiocese refused to include Diederich on its list of priests with substantiated allegations because he was deceased. He was added to the list 11/28/2018 after the Attorney General began an investigation. Included in the 5/23/2023 IL Attorney General’s Report.
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