The six Catholic dioceses of the state of Illinois, in the United States, hid the names of 500 priests accused of sexual abuse, according to denounced this Wednesday the authorities.
The Attorney General of Illinois, Lisa Madigan, denounced in a report that the Catholic Church in the state received complaints against 690 pastors, of whom only 185 were considered credible and their names disseminated.
Almost 75% of the accusations were considered not credible because there was only one complaining victim or they were not investigated when the priest in question was relocated or died or belonged to other orders such as the Jesuit, Marist or Franciscan.
According to Madigan, “the clergy sexual abuse of minors in Illinois is significantly more extensive than the dioceses of Illinois have recognized.”
The case of Illinois is reported after others in the country, with the highest profile being that of Pennsylvania, where a grand jury identified in another report 300 presumed pedophile priests with 1,000 victims.
State Attorney General Josh Shapiro said the grand jury investigation details “a systematic cover-up by senior officials of the Church in Pennsylvania and the Vatican.”
The allegations have also struck with special virulence the archdioceses of Boston and New York, whose cardinal, Timothy Dolan, had to testify in 2013 in an investigation of sexual abuse attributed to priests.
In 2007 the American Catholic Church compensated with 660 million dollars, after reaching an extrajudicial agreement, to more than 500 victims.
In his report, Madigan concludes that the Catholic dioceses of Illinois are incapable of investigating themselves and that “they will not solve the crisis of sexual abuse of their clergy alone.” (EFEUSA) .-
