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The Attorney General's Office of Illinois on Wednesday accused the Catholic Church of having hidden the names of more than 500 priests accused of badually abusing children and to have ignored the complaints filed. Attorney Lisa Madigan said the church "very often ignored survivors of clerical badual abuse."
The Madigan investigation began in August after the publication of a Pennsylvania Supreme Court report accusing 301 "predatory fathers". to abuse more than a thousand minors in the state.
In the beginning, only two of the six dioceses in Illinois published a list of clergy who were allegedly "criminally" accused of badually abusing children. As a result of the survey, the other four dioceses published similar lists
. In total, 185 members of the Church have been publicly identified by the dioceses. In reviewing the records and documents, the Madigan office found at least 500 other clergy accused.
Dioceses did not adequately investigate the cases, he explained. In some suspected cases of badual badault on children, the Church has not warned the judicial authorities or the departments responsible for children and families.
Among the reasons given for not revealing the allegations are the priest or clergyman who was already dead or who had resigned when the diocese became aware of the case.
"In choosing not to investigate thoroughly the allegations, the Catholic Church failed in its moral obligation to provide survivors, parishioners and the public with accurate accounts of all inappropriate badual behavior involving children. priests in Illinois, "Madigan said. According to her, this means that the Church has never sought to know if the behavior of the accused priests was ignored or concealed by her superiors.
In a statement, Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, expressed "once again the deep repentance of all the Church for our failures in the fight against the scourge of badual badaults committed by clerics." "It's the courage of the survivors who threw a thick light on this dark chapter in the history of the Church."
The Attorney General is no more than a few days before to leave the premises. He will be replaced in January by Kwame Raoul, who said he was determined to continue the investigation launched by Madigan.
"The news shows the need to continue to investigate crimes committed against children in institutions lacking a history of unilateral and proactive transparency," Raoul said in a statement thanking Madigan for having opened the investigation.
This episode is the last chapter of the scandal of badual abuse committed by Catholic monks. In the case unveiled by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, a report of nearly 1,360 pages notes "that there was not just badual abuse, rape of children, but systematic concealment reached the Vatican, "said prosecutor Josh Shapiro
. between abuses and the investigation, many priests and religious leaders who have protected cases can not be prosecuted, said Shapiro.
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