CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Sun-Times
February 1, 2006
BY CATHLEEN FALSANI Religion Reporter
Cardinal Francis George has removed another priest of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago from ministry after 20-year-old allegations of his alleged sexual abuse of a minor were revealed earlier this week, the cardinal's spokeswoman Colleen Dolan told the Chicago Sun-Times late Tuesday.
"This unresolved case has been brought forward by an adult involving an incident that they assert happened over 20 years ago," Dolan said. "The cardinal has removed this priest from active ministry pending the completion of a review" by a board appointed by the archdiocese to vet allegations of the sexual abuse of minors by clergy.
The priest's current and former parishes will be notified at parish masses on Sunday, following regular archdiocesan procedures, Dolan said, declining to reveal the name of the priest or the parishes involved.
Class-action suit filed
The revelation of this latest removal of a Chicago archdiocesan priest accused of sexual misconduct with a minor comes on the same day that a prominent attorney for victims of clergy sexual abuse filed a class-action lawsuit against the Chicago archdiocese, in the hopes of forcing church officials to open secret files and release a complete list of priests accused of sexually abusing children over the last half-century.