OMAHA (NE)
Omaha World-Herald [Omaha NE]
July 31, 2024
By Luna Stephens
Archbishop says accusation are ‘a complete fabrication’
[See lawsuit that includes allegation against Archbishop Lucas.]
Representatives with the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests gathered outside of Omaha’s St. Cecilia Cathedral Wednesday, calling for Omaha Archbishop George Lucas to be suspended or voluntarily step down following recent sexual abuse allegations against him.
Lucas was accused of sexually abusing a teenage seminarian in St. Louis in the late 1980s in a lawsuit filed in Missouri. The person, who is identified only by the initials D.S. in the civil lawsuit, accuses Lucas of abuse while Lucas was his teacher at the now-closed St. Louis Preparatory Seminary School.
Lucas, who is originally from St. Louis, has been the Omaha archbishop since 2009. He has repeatedly denied the recent accusations.
“The allegation against me by an anonymous person is a complete fabrication,” he said in a statement released Wednesday. “It never happened. I have never had sexual contact with another person.”
D.S. is one of 27 adult plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed in St. Louis County Circuit Court against the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of St. Louis and Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski.
The plaintiffs allege they were sexually abused as minors by priests or others of the St. Louis Archdiocese and that the archbishop and other archdiocesan officials failed to protect them and abetted the abuse by covering it up.
The suit does not name Lucas or the Archdiocese of Omaha as defendants.
David Clohessy, the Missouri volunteer chair of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests and a former national director of the organization, and another volunteer with the organization held signs outside the cathedral Wednesday with messages like
“Help us expose predators” and photos of survivors of clergy abuse.
Clohessy said, in most cases, priests who are publicly accused of abuse are suspended while an investigation takes place.
“If that’s the way accused priests are treated, that’s the way accused bishops should be treated,” he said. “Arguably, bishops have even more power so it’s even more important that they be removed from office, again at least temporarily, when a report like this happens.”
Clohessy also said he’d like to see an independent investigation into the allegations against Lucas, not only one conducted by the church.
Clohessy, who said he is a survivor of childhood clergy abuse, said he thinks transparency by the Catholic Church is essential for parishioners to have faith in church leaders.
“We all need to work to create a climate and environment that makes it easier, not harder, for victims to share their pain and report their perpetrators,” he said.
The SNAP started around 40 years ago as a peer support group but expanded into advocacy as members saw the same clergy members responsible for their abuse stay in power, Clohessy said.
“We’ve become gradually more outspoken and we’ve also realized that many of us heal best when we’re taking steps to safeguard other kids,” he said.
Lucas said he submitted his resignation to Pope Francis on June 12, as is required when a bishop turns 75, and was instructed to continue in the pastoral governance of the archdiocese until his successor is named.
In the Wednesday statement, Lucas said the apostolic nuncio to the United States, the Vatican’s representative in Washington, D.C., told him to continue to pastor “given the anonymous nature of the accusation.”