“Report: Over 2,000 Children Sexually Assaulted by Catholic Clergy in Illinois Since 1950”

In the US state of Illinois, Catholic clergy have sexually assaulted some 2,000 children since 1950. This is stated in a report from the Public Prosecutor’s Office presented in Chicago.

At least 451 clergy have been guilty of the abuse. The scope of the abuse is therefore greater than the Catholic Church itself previously indicated. At the start of the investigation, the church had provided the names of just over 100 clergy.

The researchers state that the church leadership did not recognize the extent of the abuse for a long time. Churchgoers were not warned about people who had been reported and the church leadership was difficult when someone had to be spoken to or confronted. Clerics who erred were transferred but not stopped.

Archbishop Cupich of Chicago, in office since 2014, says in response to the report that the stories of abuse have long occupied his mind. “There are many open wounds and they deserve attention,” he told a local TV station. “We’re not afraid of that either.”

The abuses that are now being investigated took place between 1950 and 2019. Justice in Illinois says that in many cases the statute of limitations has already expired and that penal punishment can no longer follow.

The investigation into the abuse within the Catholic Church in Illinois has lasted five years. Researchers conducted some 600 interviews and sifted through thousands of documents.

Similar studies have previously been conducted in states such as Pennsylvania and Maryland. There, too, hundreds of clergy have been involved in child sexual abuse in recent decades.