Statements

Warm greetings to you as you gather for Shabbat services this morning. Thank you to Rabbi Michael Siegel, Executive Director Mimi Weisberg, and the staff of Anshe Emet for such a gracious welcome. It may be a bit of an understatement to say that it is unusual to have a Catholic bishop speaking as part of your weekly shabbat service. Then again, these are not normal times.

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.

Thank you for your patience and prayers during the absence of Father John Clemens. As I previously informed you, the Archdiocese received an allegation of child sexual abuse against Father Clemens dating back approximately fifty years ago.

We want to clearly state again, as we have repeatedly told the Attorney General (AG), we will post on our weblist clerics belonging to religious orders or other diocese who served in a ministry of the Archdiocese and have been the subject of a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, if the responsible order or diocese provides that information.

Today, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul published a report (the Report) on his office’s investigation of allegations of child sexual abuse against clergy in the six Illinois Catholic dioceses over a period of nearly 90 years. The Report addresses both how dioceses responded to such allegations in decades past and current policies that help ensure the safety of children and support the healing of survivors. We have not studied the report in detail but have concerns about data that might be misunderstood or are presented in ways that could be misleading. It is therefore important that we state what we know to be true.

I welcome the news that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to temporarily halt Illinois’ assault weapons ban, which will remain in force as appellate courts consider challenges. State lawmakers passed this important law in response to the horrific mass shooting during last year’s Highland Park Independence Day parade — carnage made possible by the nature of the weapon. As of May 17, the United States has already suffered 226 mass shootings, according to the Gun Violence Archive. Last year saw more school shootings than any other since 1999.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory’s exceptional faith journey began more than six decades ago at St. Carthage Catholic School on the South Side of Chicago. There, he felt God’s call to the priesthood even though he was not a Catholic.

The Archdiocese of Chicago distributed the attached letters today to the following parishes regarding the reinstatement of Father James Flynn to ministry.

In 2020, gun violence surpassed car accidents as the leading cause of death among U.S. children. The following year, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about one in five childhood deaths were caused by firearms.

We have received word that Pope Francis is receiving treatment for a respiratory infection at Gemelli Hospital in Rome.