SNAP & ECA file complaint re Illinois church officials
11/30/23
His Eminence Christophe Cardinal Pierre
Papal Nuncio
3339 Massachusetts Ave NW
Washington, DC 20008
Dear Cardinal Pierre:
Because of the actions and inaction of five or more high-ranking Chicago area church figures, years ago and right now, kids remain at risk today in at least three crucial ways:
Fr. Richard J. McGrath walks free, unmonitored, unsupervised and unpunished, living at an undisclosed location in/near Chicago, despite being ousted from his job at a school by his church supervisor, having what a student thought was an image of a naked boy on his phone, withholding that phone from superiors and law enforcement, refusing to meet with police, living for some time at a friary near a preschool and a grade school, taking the Fifth amendment, facing at least one civil abuse and cover up lawsuit (which recently settled for $2 million), disobeying his supervisors yet being on no official church 'credibly accused' abuser list anywhere.
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/?mo=mcgrath&post_type=accused&s=&order=ASC&orderby=post_nameCatholic officials in Illinois and Rome - including Fr. McGrath's superiors (both direct and indirect, past and present) - refuse to disclose and post the names of proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting clerics who are or were in their order (the Augustinians) or jurisdiction (Chicago, Joliet and Rockford), an on-going, irresponsible move that endangers kids, hurts victims and disillusions Catholics.
These same church figures, as best we can tell, are apparently ignoring the 50 pages of recommendations on how to better deal with child sex crimes and cover ups made to them six months ago by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul in his 700 page report on a five year investigation into Illinois' bishops (in which he names 149 credibly accused chiild molesting clerics in the state who are not - but should be - on church credibly accused abusers lists.)
https://clergyreport.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/download/report.pdf
This inexcusable, continuing behavior has impeded at least one criminal investigation, at least one church investigation and prevented other investigations, in part by intimidating, discouraging and deterring others who may have seen, suspected or suffered wrongdoing by Fr. McGrath (and/or other Catholic employees in Chicago, Joliet, Rockford and elsewhere) from coming forward, speaking up, protecting kids, contacting police and exposing cover ups (especially those who are or were at St. Rita High School in Chicago, St. Edward Central Catholic High School in Elgin, Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox and St. Mary Parish in Elgin).
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/assign-McGrath-Richard-J.pdf
As a result of the repeated and deliberate recklessness, callousness and secrecy of these five officials, we feel compelled to file this complaint, under Vos Estis and via the official church mechanism ReportBishopAbuse.org - in the sincere, even desperate, hope that the Vatican hierarchy will take immediate and severe corrective measures to protect the vulnerable, heal the wounded and expose the truth.
The wrongdoers include:
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, in whose archdiocese Fr. McGrath may now live, work and where he worked for a number of years.
Joliet Bishop Ronald Hicks, in whose diocese Fr. McGrath worked or lived for at least 35 years.
Rockford Bishop David Malloy, in whose diocese Fr. McGrath worked for at least four years.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, now a top Vatican official overseeing the selection of all new bishops. (He's a Chicago native and the former head of the Augustinian’s Midwest province and the former international head of the group.)
Fr. Anthony Pizzo, who is now in charge of the Chicago-area Augustinians and could disclose their child molesting clerics, providing not just their names but also their photos, full work histories and other information that would be beneficial to vulnerable kids, struggling victims, law enforcement and families, Catholic and non-Catholic.
Before going further, let us point out one key fact: With the exception of Fr. McGrath's known child sex crimes (which took place in the mid-1990s), all the wrongdoing described here has taken place or is taking place now or within the past five or six years, almost two decades after all US bishops adopted their first national abuse policy promising to put kids' safety first, oust predatory priests and be 'open and transparent' about abuse. That a credibly accused cleric like Fr. McGrath is on the loose, in a community where he is well known, with no warning to others and no mention whatsoever on any official public church 'credibly accused' abusers list in 2023 is especially egregious and disturbing.
At a bare minimum, some of these five men could either oust the Augustinians from their jurisdictions or force them to disclose the names of their child molesting clerics. All of them could and should use their vast resources to seek out and beg others with information or suspicions about clergy sex crimes and cover ups to step forward and call the police. Some or all of them could push for Fr. McGrath to be defrocked, demoted, disciplined or even just publicly denounced, so that parents, neighbors and potential employers would be warned about him. Some or all of them could vigorously prod their staffs and flocks to contact law enforcement if they saw, suspected or suffered wrongdoing by Fr. McGrath.
Yet they essentially choose to do nothing.
(While he's not been found guilty in a court of law, Fr. McGrath faces several allegations and again was ousted by his direct supervisors, refused to be interviewed by police, refused to turn over his cell phone to police or church supervisors, expressed doubt (through his attorney) that the phone “will surface or ever turn up” according to police records and was sued, successfully, by a man who says the priest raped him as a youngster. Obviously, while deeply troubling, this evidence is not sufficient to convict and imprison Fr. McGrath. But the bar for inclusion on an official church 'credibly accused' list is much lower than for criminal prosecution. It's inexcusable that neither the heads of the Joliet or Rockford dioceses nor the Chicago Archdiocese will take even this tiny, cheap, easy step toward the prevention of heinous child sex crimes.)
Pizzo and Provost are powerful Augustinians who could and should insist that this recalcitrant and secretive organization join the dozens of other US Catholic religious orders and dioceses that have disclosed and posted the names of and information about proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting priests, nuns, bishops, monks, seminarians, brothers and other church staff.
Cupich is the most powerful of the five and reportedly is close to Pope Francis. He could and should threaten to ban Augustinians from working in his archdiocese until they reveal all they know about Fr. McGrath, especially his whereabouts, and disclose and post the names of every proven, admitted and credibly accused child molesting Augustinian cleric on church websites. At an absolute bare minimum, he should insist that every Chicago parish bulletin this weekend contain an explicit warning about Fr. McGrath and an emphatic plea for victims, witnesses and whistleblowers to call law enforcement with whatever they know or suspect about him.
(There are 216 parishes, and dozens of other church entities in the Archdiocese.)
https://www.bishop-accountability.org/AtAGlance/diocesan_and_order_lists.htm
(According to BishopAccountability.org and other sources, more than 30 US religious orders have disclosed and posted lists of ‘credibly accused' abusive clerics. The Augustinians have not. At least three accused Chicago-area Augustinians are apparently alive - Fr. McGrath, Fr. John Daniel Murphy, Br. Frank Paduch - and three are deceased - Fr. Michael P. Hogan, Fr. Peter Joseph Marron, Br. Mark E. Thedens. There are likely others, perhaps many of them.)
Again, six months ago, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul, after a five year investigation, issued 50 pages of recommendations to Catholic officials on how to better prevent and handle clergy sex crimes and cover ups. But as best we can tell, not one Illinois Catholic official - including the five men cited here - has adopted, nor even pledged to adopt, even one of those recommendations from the state's highest ranking law enforcement official.
Explanations of Vos Estis include as a criteria "actions or omissions intended to interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations." We are convinced the on-going silence and inaction of these five officials meets this criteria.
https://www.vatican.va/content/francesco/en/motu_proprio/documents/20230325-motu-proprio-vos-estis-lux-mundi-aggiornato.html
Their behavior is bolstering a deep-seated, long-standing culture of denying, ignoring, minimizing and discouraging the reporting of child sex crimes in the church. That climate avoids civil or canonical investigations by discouraging, detering, depressing and frightening those who would otherwise report known or suspected crimes against children.
"The church won't change." "I'm afraid my kids will be kicked out of parochial schools if I say something." "It looked suspicious, but I'm not absolutely sure it was a crime." "If church officials still won't 'come clean' about abuse, I can't make them." We in SNAP and ECA have heard sentiments from current and former Catholics like this for years. The continued mishandling of the Fr. McGrath case and continued secrecy about other predators are only deepening these paralyzing and dangerous feelings of helplessness among so many.
Imagine a survivor who's long been trapped in silence, shame and self-blame. But she's trying to summon the strength to report the horror she's endured. Then through the news, she hears that a lawsuit against Fr. McGrath and his supervisors has settled for $2 million. But not one Catholic prelate or figure is willing to even put his name on a 'credibly accused' cleric list.
It's not hard to imagine that survivor telling herself "If bishops won't do the right thing and be honest, even after having to pay out $2 million, I won't be able to get them to do the right thing either" and deciding that speaking up is fruitless. Her abuser then remains 'under the radar' and assaults other children.
These five church officials will no doubt defend themselves by touting their multiple abuse-related policies, protocols, procedures and panels. But a plethora of words on paper don't protect kids. Doing 'better' than one's church predecessors doesn't protect kids.
Action protects kids. Warning others about potentially dangerous credibly accused child molesters protects kids.
Disciplining clerics who 'enable' abuse - even more than disciplining the abusers themselves - protects kids.
These five men are treating one potentially dangerous child predator, Fr. McGrath, like a 'hot potato,' doing little or nothing to protect kids while making excuses and claiming he's someone else's responsibility. These five men have at their disposal church websites, pulpits, mailings, publications and weekly parish bulletins which could and should be used to alert unsuspecting neighbors, colleagues and rank-and-file Catholics to Fr. McGrath's history and behavior. These five men are thumbing their noses at the Illinois Attorney General, his staff and the dozens of courageous victims and whistleblowers who confided in them. These five men are pretending they have revealed as much as they can or know about child molesting priests, nuns, brothers, seminarians, monks and bishops. Most important, these five men are withholding names and information about predators that could well safeguard dozens or even hundreds of vulnerable, innocent boys and girls.
These are smart, well-educated men with plenty of smart, well-educated advisors, attorneys and public relations professionals. They know the chilling effects of their deeds on victims, witnesses and whistleblowers. By their actions - and inaction - they are clearly intending "to interfere with or avoid civil investigations or canonical investigations."
We implore you to act to prevent even more devastating harm to both kids and adults.
David Clohessy
Former director, SNAP, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests
Tim Law
ECA, Ending Clergy Abuse