ILLINOIS
Journal Star
By Chris Dettro of Gatehouse Media Illinois
Posted Mar. 4, 2015
SPRINGFIELD — A national support group for clergy abuse victims on Wednesday called for more transparency from the Catholic Diocese of Springfield concerning two out-of-state predator priests who spent time in the diocese.
The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, or SNAP, also wants an explanation as to why six priests ousted from their Chicago parishes in the 1990s appeared in an official Catholic directory for the Springfield Diocese, all with the same Litchfield phone number.
The group says it isn’t sure those six priests ever were assigned to or spent time in the Springfield Diocese, but it suspects that one or more did.
The two out-of-state priests are the Rev. Frank R. Martinez Jr. of Iowa and the Rev. James Vincent Fitzgerald of South Dakota, said David Clohessy, director of Chicago-based SNAP.
“Neither Bishop Thomas Paprocki (leader of the 28-county Springfield Diocese) nor his predecessors have told anyone about them,” Clohessy said at a sidewalk news conference held across the street from the Catholic Pastoral Center in Springfield.
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