..from Huffington Post….
A searing report published Wednesday by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan claims the Roman Catholic Church withheld more than 500 names of clergy accused of sexually abusing minors.
The report contains what Madigan called the “preliminary” findings of an investigation her office launched in August, prompted by a Pennsylvania grand jury’s revelations that six Roman Catholic dioceses in the state had covered up sexual abuse by 301 “predator priests” over 70 years.
Madigan’s investigation also looked at six Illinois dioceses ― the Archdiocese of Chicago, and the dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford and Springfield.
She found that, though the dioceses had publicly identified 185 clergy members who had been “credibly” accused of child sexual abuse, there are more than 500 others whose names were withheld and who were not investigated.
The six dioceses have, in total, received allegations of sexual abuse against about 690 clergy, Madigan’s report found.
“By choosing not to thoroughly investigate allegations, the Catholic Church has failed in its moral obligation to provide survivors, parishioners and the public a complete and accurate accounting of all sexually inappropriate behavior involving priests in Illinois,” Madigan said in a statement. “The failure to investigate also means that the Catholic Church has never made an effort to determine whether the conduct of the accused priests was ignored or covered up by superiors.”….