SNAP Protests after Priest Says Mass Amid Abuse Allegations

WBBM
January 23, 2012

http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/01/23/snap-protests-after-priest-says-mass-amid-abuse-allegations/

[with audio]

Members of the Survivors Network of Those Abused by Priests were handing out leaflets outside Holy Name Cathedral on Sunday.

As WBBM Newsradio’s Dave Marsett reports, the group is upset because the Rev. George Klein, 78, celebrated mass on Jan. 1 at St. Philip the Apostle Roman Catholic Church, at 1962 Old Willow Rd. in Northfield.

Klein, who is 78 and retired, has been restricted in his ministry since the summer because of an allegation that he acted inappropriately with a young woman more than 40 years ago while serving as principal of St. Benedict High School, 3900 N. Leavitt St., the Chicago Tribune reported.

In a Sept. 1 posting on its Web site, SNAP said the woman first divulged the alleged sexual abuse to Archdiocese officials over the summer. The woman’s age at the time and the nature of the alleged abuse were not specified.

Under the restrictions, Klein was forbidden from being alone with anyone under 18 “unless a responsible adult is present” and could not “engage in any teaching or instructive functions with minors,” SNAP said.

Klein mistakenly thought the restrictions against him had been lifted, and went ahead and led mass on New Year’s Day. But he has been corrected, the newspaper reported.

Klein now resides in the rectory at St. Philip the Apostle, the Tribune reported.