Statements

Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, has asked Father Patrick Lee, pastor of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Parish (Chicago), to step aside from ministry following receipt this week by the Archdiocese of Chicago of an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor in 1979 while Fr. Lee was assigned to St. Christopher Parish in Midlothian.

The archdiocese has reviewed the preliminary report of the Illinois Attorney General’s investigation of the Catholic dioceses of Illinois’ handling of clergy sexual abuse cases. The nature of the report makes it difficult to discern which generalized findings apply to the Archdiocese of Chicago. However here are a few comments we can make:

Good morning – it is good to be with you once again. In August, just a few days after I issued a letter in response to the devastating revelations of the Pennsylvania grand jury report, Jay Doherty invited me to speak to the City Club on the abuse crisis, and I gladly accepted. I began that letter to the people of the archdiocese with the only words I could summon to capture the anguish of the moment: anger, grief, shock.

Once again violence has struck our country. This time close to home at a place founded in 1852 to provide care for Chicago’s sick and dying.

Today the president of our conference, Cardinal Daniel DiNardo, informed the body of bishops that the Holy See has decided that, while we should proceed with discussing our proposals related to child protection, we should postpone our final vote on them until after the February meeting of episcopal conferences in Rome, so that our decisions can be informed by listening to our brother bishops from around the world.

Last week we stood with our Jewish brothers and sisters to remember those murdered and wounded at the Tree of Life Synagogue as they assembled for worship. Today we woke to news that 12 young people gathered in a night club and a brave Sheriff’s Sergeant who rushed in to save them are dead in another shooting.

Let me begin by expressing my deep sorrow to the Jewish community over the victims of the horrific act of violence at Tree of Life Synagogue last Saturday in Pittsburgh. Anger, grief and shock overcame me as I heard this terrible news. These Jews, elder brothers and sisters in faith to those of us who are Christian, were targeted as they gathered to praise the Almighty and celebrate new life.

We reach out through our grief and shock to our Jewish brothers and sisters and with them offer our prayers to the Almighty, the God of Abraham. We pray for healing of those caught in this madness as they gathered in their sanctuary to honor the Sabbath and rejoice at the naming of an infant.

We understand a lawsuit has been filed against the six dioceses in Illinois and the Catholic Conference of Illinois by attorneys Marc Pearlman and Jeff Anderson on behalf of sexual abuse victim-survivors from some Illinois dioceses. We have not had time to review the lawsuit. In 2006, the Archdiocese of Chicago published on its website the names of diocesan priests against whom there were substantiated allegations of child sexual abuse.

Fr. Rigoberto Gámez Alfonso, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, was arrested yesterday by the Chicago Police Department and has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual abuse of adult women and one count of simple battery of a minor female. His faculties to minister in the Archdiocese of Chicago have been withdrawn effective immediately. The Archdiocese of Chicago will fully cooperate with the authorities in this matter.