Despite Abuse Allegations Jesuits Moved Priest Among Universities

By Tim Drake
The Cardinal Newsman Society
May 29, 2013

http://www.cardinalnewmansociety.org/CatholicEducationDaily/DetailsPage/tabid/102/ArticleID/2272/Despite-Abuse-Allegations-Jesuits-Moved-Priest-among-Universities.aspx


Documents released last week as part of a settlement reveal that Chicago Jesuits concealed the crimes of convicted sex offender Fr. Donald McGuire, S.J. for more than 40 years. During that time Fr. McGuire worked at a variety of Jesuit educational institutions.

The documents were part of a $19.6 million settlement between the Chicago Province of the Society of Jesus and six men from four states announced on Tuesday.

According to a record of his assignments, between 1965 and 1981, Fr. McGuire worked at a variety of educational institutions, including: Loyola Academy in Chicago, Newman College, and the University of San Francisco's Ignatius Institute.

A 1970 letter written by the Rev. John H. Reinke, then-president of Loyola Academy in Wilmette, described Fr. McGuire's presence at the school as "positively destructive and corrosive."

While the settlement doesn't name any priests accused of abusing minors who have not been previously disclosed to the public, it did name a number of Jesuit superiors who kept Fr. McGuire's crimes a secret and, the victims' attorneys said, which enabled him to abuse more young men.

"Jesuits made choices time and time again that demonstrated willful indifference," said Jeff Anderson, the plaintiffs' attorney. "Not one Jesuit official has yet to be prosecuted for their complicity in these crimes."

To date, lawyers have identified 28 men who have alleged abuse by Fr. McGuire from the 1960s until 2004. Eight have filed lawsuits.

In addition to his work in Catholic higher education, Fr. McGuire offered spiritual retreats around the globe and served as a spiritual director for Mother Teresa and her Missionaries of Charity.

The first allegation of sexual abuse against Fr. McGuire came in the form of a lawsuit filed in 2003 by a former student at Loyola Academy. It alleged sexual abuse that occurred in 1968 and 1969. At the time it was filed, the lawsuit also named and accused the Jesuits of failing to inform law enforcement of the boy's complaints.

McGuire was convicted in 2006 and sentenced to seven years behind bars and 20 years of probation.

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