Retired Priest, Father William Killeen removed from ministry pending investigation of a 40-year-old allegation
Today, Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, notified eight parishes that he had asked Fr. William Killeen to step aside pending investigation of an allegation of child sexual abuse received this week. Father Killeen denies the allegation. The abuse is alleged to have occurred approximately 40 years ago at St. Patricia Parish in Hickory Hills.
The parishes are: St. Alexander in Palos Heights, St. Patricia in Hickory Hills, St. Michael in Orland Park, St. Christopher (now St. Augustine) in Midlothian, Infant Jesus of Prague (now St. Veronica) in Flossmoor, St. Francis Xavier in La Grange, St. Cletus in La Grange, and St. John of the Cross in Western Springs.
Retired since 2019, Killeen celebrates Mass occasionally at St. Francis Xavier Parish and St. Cletus Parish, both in La Grange and St. John of the Cross Parish in Western Springs. Civil authorities have been notified, the person making the allegation has been offered the services of the archdiocese’s Victim Assistance Ministry and the archdiocese has begun its investigation.