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	Chicago Archdiocese Releases Findings of Priest Abuse Investigation By Nathaniel Hernandez The Associated Press, carried in Belleville News-Democrat March 20, 2006 http://www.belleville.com/mld/belleville/news/politics/14144207.htm CHICAGO - A priest charged with molesting three boys had been accused years before of having questionable conduct with a minor while he was in the seminary and was still allowed to be ordained, according to a report released Monday that outlines a widespread breakdown in communication at the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago. The report, based on investigations conducted by two outside consultants and an internal review, said the archdiocese's failure to follow its own procedures put children in harm's way and might have violated Illinois law. Cardinal Francis George said he was "deeply troubled" by what the investigation uncovered. "This is a tragedy for the children, for their families and all who are involved. But it also represents failures within the archdiocese to react promptly and appropriately to what happened in these cases," George said in a statement. The report found that various archdiocese departments responsible for dealing with abuse allegations failed to communicate. It also found that the archdiocese didn't follow its own procedures and it determined that a policy of monitoring priests accused of sex crimes is inadequate. The investigations were in response to allegations against the Rev. Daniel McCormack. He pleaded not guilty earlier this month to aggravated criminal sexual abuse charges. McCormack is accused of molesting three boys between September 2001 and January 2005. Officials at St. Mary of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein were told McCormack acted inappropriately with two adult males and one adult minor in 1992, according to the report. McCormack was ordained in 1994. Archdiocese spokesman Jim Dwyer said the allegation of questionable behavior with a minor was never fully developed. The report acknowledged that the archdiocese does not review seminary files. "We would have not knowingly ordained any priest unless we realized that he had came to terms with living a celibate and chaste life," Dwyer said. "There is an indication that some (church officials) were not aware of those incidents, or if they were, he had reconciled any difficulties he had with living a celibate and chaste life. "But I think it goes without saying that under the practices at the seminary today he would not have been ordained." Dwyer said all the information in the report has been turned over to prosecutors, who will decide if any penalties will be imposed on the church or its employees. The Chicago archdiocese came under fire after McCormack's arrest because he was not removed from his parish on the city's West Side until he was charged in January - months after one of the allegations was made against him. "Non-action on the part of the archdiocese in response to an allegation of misconduct or clerical abuse created situations in which children were placed at risk," according to the report. Along with the report, the archdiocese released the names of 55 former priests who had been the subject of substantiated sex abuse allegations involving minors dating back to 1950. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests said the report highlights well-known communication problems within the archdiocese. "Admitting obvious wrongdoing is not real progress. This is nothing new," said SNAP president Barbara Blaine, who is calling for George's resignation. "It's not the church's procedures that are flawed, it's the church's leadership that is flawed," she said. ON THE NET Archdiocese of Chicago: http://www.archchicago.org
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