PEORIA (IL)
WUIS - NPR Illinois [Springfield IL]
March 17, 2025
By Collin Schopp
[Photo above: SNAP Missouri Director David Clohessy, middle front, speaks outside of the Spalding Pastoral Center in downtown Peoria. He’s surrounded by victims of child sex abuse and their families, who asked not to be identified by name. Some carry photos of children at the age when they were abused. Photo by Collin Schopp]
An advocacy group for survivors of clergy sexual abuse is demanding action from Catholic Diocese of Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka.
Members of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests [SNAP] gathered Monday on the sidewalk in front of the Spalding Pastoral Center in downtown Peoria, home of the diocese offices.
The group included survivors of clergy sexual abuse and their families, who wished not to be identified by name. Some held pictures of children, victims at the age when they were abused.
“Specifically, we’re calling on Bishop Tylka to do everything he can to warn parents and police and prosecutors and the public about dangerous predators like Father [Thomas] Miller,” said David Clohessy, current Missouri director, and former national director, of SNAP.
The demonstration comes a week after a lawsuit filed by the firm Jeff Anderson and Associates, on behalf of their client Michael Eckert. The lawsuit alleges Miller abused Eckert over a period of six years, during his time at the St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Parish in Peoria.
“For the past 27 years, this has altered innumerable aspects of my life: my feeling of safety, my sense of self worth, my ability to trust, my relationships with others,” said Eckert in a video statement released through his attorneys. “For me, this isn’t something that happened in the past. This is something I battle daily.”
The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages from the Diocese of Peoria for its alleged failure to protect Eckert from Miller. Miller was removed from the ministry in 2004, due to a separate instance of reported abuse. He was removed from the clerical state by the Vatican in 2010.
When removed from the clerical state, former priests, including those accused of child sex abuse, become private citizens and are not required to inform their former diocese of their address.
According to a nearly 700-page 2023 report from the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, Miller had several assignments across the Peoria Diocese between 1979 and 2002: Holy Trinity in Bloomington, Schlarman High School and Saint Paul in Danville and Saint Bernard, Saint Vincent De Paul and various diocese positions in Peoria.
The report says there are four known survivors of Miller’s abuse, with two reported instances between 1979 and 2000, both in McLean County. The diocese first reported receiving a claim of abuse by Miller in 2004. Miller is on a public list of removed clergy maintained by the diocese. He was added to the list in 2018.
Clohessy says it’s unclear where exactly Miller’s other abuse reports originated and the victims are unknown to SNAP. However, the organization is concerned there may be more victims of Miller’s among his various assignments, still afraid to speak up.
“Studies show, unfortunately, that the average child sex abuse victim discloses their trauma at the age of 52,” said Clohessy. “So we strongly suspect that there are other whistleblowers and victims, people who knew or suspected crimes by him. They too should pick up the phone and call 911.”
The letter delivered by Clohessy to the diocese decries the bishop’s response to the lawsuit and makes several requests.
The letter asks Tylka to, among other things: visit parishes where Miller worked and encourage victims or witnesses to call police; insist every priest in the diocese make a verbal pulpit announcement about Miller’s alleged crimes; use the media to alert police and the public about Miller’s last known whereabouts; and send Miller’s complete personnel file to prosecutors and police chiefs in every town where he was employed.
“Can’t you bring yourself to show compassion and bravery like this?” reads the letter in part. “Can’t you manage to be at least as responsible and caring as Mike [Eckert] is?”
After delivering the letter to a receptionist at the Spalding Pastoral Center, Clohessy described an “acceptable” response from the diocese.
“Any disclosure, any outreach is better than none,” he said. “So, to be honest, if we see the bishop go visit just the five parishes where Father Miller worked, and stand in the pulpit and ask folks to come forward, that’ll be a huge win.”
When contacted by WCBU, the Catholic Diocese of Peoria referred back to the statement from Bishop Louis Tylka issued last week in response to the Eckert lawsuit.
The statement reads in part: “As Bishop of the Diocese of Peoria, I remain committed to promoting the safe environment programs we have in place to provide a safe haven for children and young people. I ask for your ongoing prayers as we continue to work together to safeguard all of God’s people, especially those who have suffered.”
Clohessy hopes the Eckert lawsuit encourages other survivors of clergy child sexual abuse to come forward with their own stories.
He said abuse is “much more like cancer than a headache.”
“If you have a headache and you don’t do anything, chances are you’ll be okay,” said Clohessy. “But if you were sexually violated as a kid, and you just try to move ahead without addressing it, it’s gonna come out.”