CHICAGO (IL)
Chicago Tribune
By Manya Brachear Pashman and Stacy St. Clair
Tribune reporters
11:01 p.m. CST, January 8, 2014
In the 11 years since Kathy Laarveld learned her son had been molested by their parish priest, she has wanted the Catholic Church to come clean and disclose how it ultimately handled the allegations against its clergy.
She didn’t waver in her position seven years ago, when the Chicago Archdiocese reached a monetary settlement with her son. She also didn’t relent when it substantiated allegations that the priest molested him in the early 1980s, when he was an 8-year-old having his Communion party.
“There are so many people who think the church did nothing wrong or that they did the best they could at the time,” she said. “I don’t believe that. I want people to see exactly what happened and how these priests were protected.”
Laarveld’s wish soon will be granted. In a letter to parishioners of the Chicago Archdiocese, Cardinal Francis George announced this week that documents on substantiated abuse claims linked to at least 30 current and former archdiocese priests will soon be made public. He apologized to the victims for the abuse they suffered, as well as to “rank-and-file Catholics who have been shamed” by the scandal.
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