Nearly 2000 children abused by Catholic leaders in Illinois

Shades of western Pennsylvania a few years ago, where it came to light that more than 1,500 children had been sexually victimized by priests over the past few years. One priest in particular had nailed five kids, whose parents had all brought charges against him. What happened next makes the blood boil, though the truth took many more years to come out. 

Apparently, the head of the Catholic Diocese went to the District Attorney in that part of Pa. and told him he would lose the next election if he indicted that priest. Yup, the bastard let him off the hook and was re-elected!

Years later, after that district attorney had retired, he was brought back to testify about another case and broke down in tears, finally admitting what he’d done. Meanwhile, that priest had been transferred to another part of the country, where he had continued abusing child after child.

Eventually he was defrocked, which could have and should have happened all those years before!

The Catholic Church, ie: Bringing comfort to millions on the planet on a daily basis, while at the same time being the most successful criminal organization in the history of the world!

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A stable, nonpreachy, objective voice makes the book stand apart from others in the genre. A successful guide that uses anecdotes of real human experiences to reveal powerful truths about life.
Andy Carrigan, USA TODAY NETWORK

A multi-year investigation into child sex abuse by members of the Catholic clergy in Illinois found at least 1,997 children across the state were sexually abused.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul Tuesday released a comprehensive reportdetailing decades of child sex abuse by members of the Illinois Catholic dioceses, which includes Belleville, Chicago, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield.

The nearly 700-page report features detailed narrative accounts of child sex abuse committed by Catholic clerics.

Many of the narratives were written in consultation with survivors, are based upon their experiences, and told from the survivor’s point of view.

“I was raised and confirmed in the Catholic church and sent my children to Catholic schools. I believe the church does important work to support vulnerable populations; however, as with any presumably reputable institution, the Catholic church must be held accountable when it betrays the public’s trust,” Raoul said.

Although the report formally concludes the investigation the Attorney General’s office opened in 2018, it contains 50 pages of the office’s recommendations to the dioceses for the handling of future child sex abuse allegations.

Before Raoul’s investigation, the Catholic dioceses of Illinois publicly listed only 103 substantiated child sex abusers. By comparison, Raoul’s report reveals names and detailed information of 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers who abused at least 1,997 children across all of the dioceses in Illinois.

Of the 451 clerics in the report, 330 have died, according to Raoul.

The Archdiocese of Chicago, and the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield issued a joint statement regarding the findings.

“The Catholic Church in Illinois has been at the forefront of dealing with sexual abuse of minors for many years,” said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago and Metropolitan of the Chicago Province.

“At this time, working with the Office of the Attorney General of Illinois, the leaders of all six Illinois dioceses endeavored to make clear and update our approach, mindful of our lived experience and best practices in this field. Our common goals in doing so are to ensure we offer pastoral support to those affected by this tragedy and to work diligently to prevent it from occurring again.”

The Illinois dioceses’ said for years their procedures include, among other things:

  • The diocesan website publication of the names of its clerics credibly accused of sexual abuse of minors.
  • Policies for handling allegations of sexual abuse of minors against clerics incardinated in their dioceses.
  • Diocesan policies for handling such allegations against deceased, laicized and religious order priests.
  • Processes for dealing with allegations that arise during criminal investigations or civil lawsuits.

The Illinois Catholic dioceses serve 3.4 million Catholics, comprising approximately 27 percent of the total state population, through more than 900 parishes.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY NETWORK: Nearly 2,000 children sexually abused by Catholic leaders in Illinois

Kirkus Reviews, the gold-standard for independent & accurate reviews, has this to say about

What Goes Around Comes Around:

A successful guide that uses anecdotes to reveal powerful truths about life.  

The stable, positive, non-preachy and objective voice makes the book stand apart from others in the genre.

~ Kirkus Reviews

“The author gives readers not just points or principles to ponder, but real human experiences that demonstrate them!”
– Kirkus Reviews
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“I’ve read a number of books that focus on sharing a similar message, including “The Secret” by Rhonda Byrne, “The Answer” by John Assaraf & Murray Smith, “The Celestine Prophecy” by James Redfield, “Think and Grow Rich,” by Napoleon Hill, and I must say that I find Rob’s to be my favorite.” – Sheryl Woodhouse, founder of Livelihood Matters LLC

Nearly 2000 children abused by Catholic leaders in Illinois

Nearly 2000 children abused by Catholic leaders in Illinois

…And here is a genuine story about how even minimal effort to bring comfort to another human can result in outsized and wonderful results. How different the world might seem to many if that kind of true effort actually ran wild! It is a thought worth considering. It is also a siren call to each of us!

New research shows small gestures matter even more than we may think.

I wonder about when this train actually went off the rail and Balwani and Holmes both knew it. It reminds me somewhat of Bernie Madoff’s $20 Billion deception in that if Bernie had fessed up when his performance first went south and he tried to cover it up, only to make it worse, he might largely have been forgiven and returned to his original trading business. But he just couldn’t do that and as time went on…well we know the result.

Was there a similar trajectory for this pair? A time when they looked at each other and said, “Uh oh!” Not that it matters really. Somewhere along the way they knew what was going down and kept it going for as long as they could. Now have to face the music as eventually, always is the case. It is simply “The Law of Cause and Effect” unfolding. Hopefully for them there will be less tragic endings than Bernie. It depends on how they handle what they have wrought! We’ll see.