Illinois investigation finds almost 2,000 children abused in Catholic Church 

An investigation by the Illinois Attorney General office revealed that 451 clergy members abused nearly 2,000 children in the Catholic Church across all the dioceses in the state, which is a staggering difference from what the Church reported in 2018.  

Attorney General Kwame Raoul released a nearly 700-page report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois on Tuesday, finding that the number of clergy members who were disclosed as abusers was undercounted by the church. The investigation found that 1,997 survivors were sexually abused by 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers that were not all publicly disclosed by the Church initially.  

“I was raised and confirmed in the Catholic Church and sent my children to Catholic schools. I believe the church does important work to support vulnerable populations; however, as with any presumably reputable institution, the Catholic church must be held accountable when it betrays the public’s trust,” Raoul said in a statement.  

“It is my hope that this nearly 700-page report will provide some closure to survivors of child sex abuse by Catholic clerics by shining a light both on those who violated their positions of power and trust, and on the individuals in church leadership who covered up that abuse,” Raoul added. “These perpetrators may never be held accountable in a court of law, but by naming them here, the intention is to provide a public accounting and a measure of healing to survivors who have long suffered in silence.” 

When the office started the investigation, the Church had only disclosed 103 of those clergy members who abused children. As the investigation moved forward, the Church publicly disclosed additional names of members who sexually abused children. The report lists the names and dioceses of the clergy members who abused children in Illinois.

The report also found that some many clergy members sought to protect the reputation of the Church rather than seek help for the survivors by covering up the incidents. The report found that in many instances, clergy member were given the “benefit of the doubt,” which allowed them more opportunities to harm children.  

“As a result of the shortcomings identified by Attorney General investigators, hundreds of survivors were denied justice because the church was not investigating—and therefore not able to substantiate— certain child sex abuse claims. 

The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) released a statement Tuesday, calling the new report “stunning.”

“And let us be clear, in our view the bishops lied,” SNAP said in a statement. “There is no questioning the facts of the report – until 2018 when the investigation began, hierarchs in every Illinois diocese kept known abusers under wraps, declined to include them on their accused lists, and refused to acknowledge the truth that survivors of abuse who came forward to make a report shared with them. It is to us, in a word, disgusting that these supposed shepherds would lie so blatantly.”