CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Lolly Bowean and Crystal Yednak
Tribune staff reporters
Published February 12, 2006
As a teenager, David Nolan endured years of sexual molestation and abuse by a Roman Catholic priest who oversaw a school and church in his South Side neighborhood, he said.
But for much of his life, Nolan was silent about the abuse because the African-American priest helped him get through high school, was generous to his family and was celebrated in the black community for his work with poor boys, Nolan said.
"I've always been ashamed about what happened and I couldn't tell anyone," he said.
On Saturday, Nolan and a dozen others who say they were abused gathered to take their first organized step toward healing. They are forming a support group for African-Americans who suffered such abuse, said Dwain Singleton, president of African-American Advocates for Victims of Clergy Abuse.