CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By James Kimberly
Tribune staff reporter
Published January 23, 2006
A swarm of reporters and a sign that read "Pray, Pray, Pray" greeted parishioners Sunday at St. Agatha Catholic Church on Chicago's West Side.
The reporters were there to ask about the arrest of the church's senior pastor, Rev. Daniel J. McCormack, 37, on charges that he sexually abused two young boys.
The sign was a message from Rev. Tom Walsh, a priest in residence at St. Agatha, to remind the church in the Lawndale neighborhood to remember what to do in times like this.
The congregation was stunned by McCormack's arrest, which occurred Friday evening at his brother's home in Orland Hills, according to Orland Hills police. Most of the parishioners learned from media reports that "Father Dan" has been charged with two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse of children under 13. He is accused of abusing a 13-year-old boy from Chicago and an 11-year-old boy from Willowbrook between September 2001 and January 2005.