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	Seminary Off-Limits to High School Walkathon Chicago Tribune March 9, 2006 http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/site/premium/access-registered.intercept A Roman Catholic high school in Mundelein has been ordered to redraw the 6-mile route of its annual walkathon in April because it traditionally takes place on a seminary campus that is home to at least a dozen priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors. For the first time in 15 years, the Archdiocese of Chicago will not allow students from Carmel Catholic High School to hold its fundraiser at the University of St. Mary of the Lake, located across the street. Church officials said they did not want the school to be the target of "unwelcome attention." "There's always a safety concern," said archdiocesan spokesman Jim Dwyer. "Realistically we feel we've answered that question by having the monitoring program we have up there." Sister Mary Frances McLaughlin, president of the school, said the seminary campus is generally off-limits to students and they are never on the grounds for school-sanctioned events without supervision. "Our students have never been welcome over there," she said. She declined to say whether she was concerned about potential danger posed by the accused priests before the archdiocese issued its directive. Thirteen priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors live in the Cardinal Stritch Retreat House on the seminary campus. One priest, Rev. Ralph Strand, is registered as a convicted sex offender. Barbara Dorris, a spokeswoman for the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests, said holding the walk on seminary grounds put more than 1,000 students, most of them younger than 18, at risk. "It's sad when church officials do the right thing for the wrong reasons," Dorris said in a statement. "By their own admission, they're moving this event because they fear bad publicity, not because it makes kids safer."
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