JOLIET (IL)
The Herald News
By Ted Slowik
staff writer
JOLIET — The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet has posted on its Web site a list of 22 priests accused of sexually abusing minors.
Two of the clerics on the list are linked to sexual abuse for the first time, though one of the priests has died and the other is in his 90s.
The list lacks other names of individuals accused of abuse. The diocese qualified its list by saying it contains the names of "diocesan priests against whom a credible/substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor had been made while they were serving in the Diocese of Joliet."
Joliet Bishop Joseph Imesch said in a letter to parishioners last month that the diocese would post the names on its Web site. The list can be found at www.dioceseofjoliet.org/docs /ListofPriests.pdf.
"The diocese has taken this step in the hope of further facilitating healing and closure for those who have been affected by the tragedy of sexual abuse of a minor," diocesan spokesman Tom Kerber said in a statement. "We also hope that posting the names might encourage those who think they may have been abused to come forward."