Catholic Church has a Lot to Answer For

A 696-page report released by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul showed 451 Catholic priests abused nearly 2,000 children in Illinois over a 70-year period. Last Friday, all six Catholic dioceses in Illinois released a press release talking about the church’s polices in place to protect kids from sexual abuse.

I love kids. They are funny. They keep me young. They work my nerves. They are our future. They cost a lot of money to raise. But to see them develop, first into teens, then young adults and through their 20’s successfully is a remarkable thing. This is why the news out of Illinois, where Attorney General Kwame Raoul’s investigation found that the Catholic Church underreported priests who abused kids is so disappointing.

According to the AG’s investigation, which took five years to complete, 451 priests abused nearly 2,000 victims between 1950 and 2019, all of whom were children at the time the abuse took place. While the statute of limitations has expired and no justice can be given to the victims in a legal sense, the Catholic Church has a lot to answer for as much of the abuse was covered up by leaders in the church, according to the report.

As staggering as the numbers are, it is safe to assume the number of both victims and abusers is actually higher than found in the investigation report, which is 696 pages. Raul is only reporting cases that he can prove, not those where it is probable abuse occurred. if these are just the numbers in Illinois alone, it is scary to think what the numbers are across the midwest, across the nation and across the world.

I know many people who have been affected by sexual abuse. The road to recovery for them and their families is ongoing and difficult. It is my sincere hope that this report by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office is a step in the right direction for our society to deal with this problem once and for all.

“It is my hope that this report will shine light both on those who violated their positions of power and trust to abuse innocent children, and on the men in church leadership who covered up that abuse,” said Raoul at a press conference announcing the findings. “These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accountability and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.”

I’m also for naming people publicly. As a journalist and as a person, I firmly believe in shining a light in areas where there is darkness since this is where most of the demons in our society hide.  I am proud to post a link to the report on this website so you can read for yourself and see the names of the 451 abusers the investigation uncovered. Our society has a lot of power to make change. Mostly it just takes a commitment from the members.

The Catholic Church is seeing yet again more negative publicity that has affected the church and its services. Catholic schools are closing all around the country is perhaps the easiest way to see the effect. For myself, a person who went to a Catholic school during my primary years, I feel lucky that the nuns and priests at my school never engaged in any of this misconduct. Instead, my experience gave me the fundamentals to education, which made my transition to public and a Lutheran private school for my remaining elementary and high school years an easy one.  

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests released the following statement after the report was made public:

“Let us be clear, in our view the bishops lied. There is no questioning the facts of the report – until 2018 when the investigation began, hierarchs in every Illinois diocese kept known abusers under wraps, declined to include them on their accused lists, and refused to acknowledge the truth that survivors of abuse who came forward to make a report shared with them. It is to us, in a word, disgusting that these supposed shepherds would lie so blatantly. It is, in a word, arrogant that they believed their lies would somehow remain secret even in the face of a secular investigation. We are grateful that their disgusting arrogance has now been publicly exposed.”

Let the church say. Amen.