Statements

As part of the archdiocese’s revitalization initiative, Renew My Church, the leadership of parishes in the Brighton Park and Calumet City groupings have been meeting to discuss the future church, parish and school structures for their areas. They submitted their feedback to the Archdiocese of Chicago and the final structures have been approved.

My first words of welcome are to the parents and families of Bishops Bartosic, Casey and Hicks. Your son, brother and uncle will need you now more than ever. Stay close to him and pray every day for him. I am also honored that Pope Francis is with us today in the person of his representative. Welcome, Archbishop Christophe Pierre. Please let the Holy Father know of our deep affection and enthusiastic support. Your participation today is also a reminder to us all, especially the bishops present here, how we are united with each other and with “the one chosen by the Lord to be the Successor of Peter.”

My first words are for you, jubilarians, who come together to celebrate your Golden Wedding Anniversary with your family and friends and the Church. Yes, I want to say “congratulations; we are proud of you”, but equally I want to say, “thank you.” Thank you for witnessing in a unique way to the power of God’s grace. You are a testament to a core value of our faith, that we are a people on pilgrimage, whom the Lord accompanies along the way, guiding us with his light when the path is uncertain, coming back for us when we stray, encouraging us when we grow weary of taking up the journey time and again. He has walked with you since the day you took each other for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health.

Brothers and sisters, tonight we gather for the ninth and final evening of our novena to pray for healing and justice for the victims of sexual abuse. These nine days of prayer have brought together the Church of Chicagoland from Mundelein to Tinley Park, Waukegan to Willow Springs, it has brought together men, women and children of diverse ethnicities and walks of life. As they have been intentional in praying for healing for all who have been victimized, they have joined in solidarity with victim-survivors in their clarion call for the whole Cchurch to face these terrible crimes and fundamentally commit to work for justice.

We were informed this morning that Rev. Diego Berrio, pastor of Misión San Juan Diego in Arlington Heights, Ill., and Rev. Edwin Giraldo Cortes, an extern priest from Soacha, Colombia who served at St. Aloysius Parish in Chicago for one month, August 1 to August 31, 2018, were arrested in Miami on September 3, 2018.

I regret to inform you that Father Edwin Giraldo Cortes, of the Diocese of Soacha, Colombia, who served briefly at your parish while visiting the United States, from August 1, 2018 to August 31, 2018, was arrested yesterday by the Miami Police Department.

I regret to inform you that I have removed Father Diego Berrio as pastor of Mision San Juan Diego in Arlington Heights, Illinois, effective immediately, and have withdrawn his faculties to minister in the Archdiocese of Chicago.

An NBC Chicago TV report that aired Monday night was edited in such a way that gave the false impression that Pope Francis and I consider the protection of children to be less important than other issues, such as the environment or immigration. Nothing could be further from the truth.

The former nuncio makes a number of references to me in his “testimony.” The first is in the sentence: “This is how one explains that, as members of the Congregation for Bishops, the Pope replaced Cardinal Burke with Wuerl and immediately appointed Cupich right after he was made a cardinal.” The former nuncio is confused about the sequence of these events. In fact, I was appointed to the Congregation for Bishops on July 7, 2016, and was named a cardinal on October 9, 2016.

I regret to inform you that I have removed Father Gary Graf as pastor of San José Luis Sanchez del Rio Parish pending the outcome of an investigation into an allegation of code of conduct violations involving a minor. While we do not have the full details on the allegation, Father Graf has agreed to step aside while it is investigated thoroughly.