Illinois Dioceses

Archdiocese of Chicago

Diocese of Belleville

Diocese of Joliet

Diocese of Peoria

Diocese of Rockford

Diocese of Springfield

Scroll of Abusive Clerics/Brothers

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Ralph S. Strand

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1971-1973: Bellwood, IL
1980-1984: Chicago, IL
1989-1993: Chicago, IL

Reported Survivors:

At least 8

Richard Gregory Theisen

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1962-1967: Chicago, IL

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Wayne Barron

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1972: Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

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Robert J. Vonnahmen

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1956, 1962-1969: St. Clair & Johnson Counties, IL
1959-1960: Spencer County, IN
1961: St. Clair County, IL
1966-1967: Johnson County, IL
1970: Bahamas
1971-1972, 1977-1982, 1984: Johnson County, IL
1983-1985: Unknown
Unknown: Johnson County, IL

Reported Survivors:

Documents the Diocese of Belleville produced to the Attorney General’s investigators reveal Father Robert Vonnahmen sexually abused as many as 23 children while ministering there between 1956 and 1993. In those same records, the diocese represented it first received notice of child sex abuse allegations against Vonnahmen in November 1992. But diocesan records also reveal allegations that Vonnahmen’s fellow priests implored the diocese’s bishop to investigate him for child sex abuse as early as 1968 or 1969. These priests passed on reports of misconduct with children attending...

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Robert O. Barnett

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1964-1966: LaSalle County, IL
1964-1966: Rock Island County, IL

Reported Survivors:

Felipe Navarrette Diaz

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Emil Twardochleb

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1971-1975: Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

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Gary D. Berthiaume

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1977: Our Lady of Sorrows, Farmington, MI

Reported Survivors:

One might have thought that Father Gary Berthiaume would have run out of second chances by the time he arrived in the Diocese of Joliet in 1988 as a disgraced priest. A decade earlier, while he was assigned to a parish in the Archdiocese of Detroit, a Michigan court convicted Berthiaume of sexually abusing a child. After being released from prison, Berthiaume was shuffled off to the Diocese of Cleveland and assigned to a local parish as if nothing had happened. But Berthiaume continued to offend. He admittedly “used poor judgment” and made “foolish decisions” to ...

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George Kromenaker

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1967: Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Robert Joseph McDonald

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1979-1981: Northbrook, IL

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Gilbert Hensley

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

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Jerome B. Ratermann

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1968-1969: Clinton County, IL
1968-1970: Randolph County, IL
1974-1976: Williamson County, IL

Reported Survivors:

“It’s our little secret,” Father Jerome Ratermann told his young victim. “But it’s okay because I’m your priest.” “Daniel” reached out to the Attorney General’s investigators to share details of the sexual abuse he endured at Ratermann’s hands. Daniel grew up believing “priests are like family; they have your best interest at heart.” That’s what he was taught as a boy attending Saints Peter and Paul in Waterloo, where Ratermann was assigned from 1972 through 1985. And that is why Daniel (like so many others) ...

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Francis Lee Ryan

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1975-1977: St. Anne, Crest Hill, IL
1975-1977: Michigan City, IN
1975-1977: Joliet Catholic Academy, Joliet, IL

Reported Survivors:

Francis Mary Sparacino

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Edwin G. Kastner

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1956-1959: St. Clair County, IL
1964-1969: Washington County, IL

Reported Survivors:

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James M. Janssen

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1953: Iowa
1953-1962: Unknown
1956-1958: Saint Isaac Jogues, Hinsdale, IL

Reported Survivors:

At least 36

Father James Janssen is an example of the coordinated efforts by church officials to shuffle around priests who they know have sexually abused children. Janssen was ordained a priest in 1948 in the Diocese of Davenport in Iowa. He appeared abruptly in the Diocese of Joliet in 1956 as resident at Saint Isaac Jogues in Hinsdale—fresh off a short leave of absence for sexually abusing two children at a YMCA in Newton, Iowa. Bishop Leo Hayes, the leader of the church in Davenport, had instructed Janssen “to leave the Diocese immediately or just as soon as possible.” While ...

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Anthony Dukich

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

J. Gerard Griffin

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At Least 2

William J. Dugal III

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1976: Saint Joseph, Lockport, IL

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

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Robert Louis Kealy

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Late-1960s-1970s: Northbrook, IL
1975-1978: Oak Lawn, IL
1995: Chicago, IL

Reported Survivors:

Father Robert Kealy was an accomplished priest whose many pastoral and academic achievements allowed him to rise quickly in the ranks of the Archdiocese of Chicago—and become intimately acquainted with the most powerful men in the local church. He was instrumental in the church’s initial efforts in the early 1990s to respond institutionally to the looming crisis of predator priests. And Kealy was a big hit with his parishioners too. Known as the “cool priest” who drove a sports car and enjoyed an easy rapport with teens in particular, Kealy also charmed older ...

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Definitions

Terms are defined as provided in the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops Glossary of Catholic Terms, unless denoted with *.

Altar server: Individuals, usually children, who assist clerics during liturgical functions such as mass. Prior to 1994, only men and boys were permitted to be altar servers.*
Archbishop: The title given automatically to bishops who govern archdioceses. It is also given to certain other high-ranking church officials.
Archdiocese: The chief diocese of an ecclesiastical province. It is governed by an archbishop.
Auxiliary Bishop: A bishop assigned to a Catholic diocese or archdiocese to assist its residential bishop.
Bishop: The highest order of ordained ministry in the Catholic Church. The chief priests in their respective dioceses. Bishops are responsible for the pastoral care of their dioceses. All bishops have a responsibility to act in council with other bishops to guide the church.
Brother: A man who has taken vows in a religious order but is not ordained or studying for the priesthood. Sometimes he is called a lay brother to distinguish him from ordained members of religious orders.
Canon Law: A code of ecclesiastical laws governing the Catholic Church.
Cardinal: Highest-ranking Catholic clergy below the pope. Cardinals are regarded as the pope's closest advisors. Most cardinals are archbishops.
Chancellor: The chief archivist of a diocese's official records. Also a notary and secretary of the diocese’s central administration.
Clergy/Cleric: Clergy is a collective term referring to all those ordained—bishops, priests, and deacons—who administer the rites of the church. A cleric is an individual member of the clergy. Only men are permitted to join the clergy.
Confession or Reconciliation: The Catholic sacrament in which one makes a voluntary self-accusation of sins to a qualified priest in private in order to obtain absolution. The priest provides the confessor, also known as the penitent, with a penance to atone for sins committed. A priest who hears confession is forbidden from disclosing the contents of a confession to others under what is called the seal of confession.*
Curia: The personnel and offices through which (1) the pope administers the affairs of the universal church (the Roman Curia), or (2) a bishop administers the affairs of a diocese (the diocesan curia). The principal officials of a diocesan curia are the vicar general, the chancellor, officials of the diocesan tribunal or court, examiners, consultors, auditors, and notaries.
Dallas Charter: The Charter for the Protection of Children and Young People sets forth policies for each United States archdiocese and diocese to adopt as part of an effort to address allegations of child sex abuse by Catholic clergy. The Charter was formulated at the 2002 meeting of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops in Dallas, Texas. The Charter was revised in 2005, 2011, and 2018.
Deacon: One of three groups that comprise the clergy, meaning those ordained for ministry. Only men are permitted to become deacons. Deacons preparing for the priesthood are transitional deacons. Those not planning to be ordained priests are called permanent deacons. Married men may be ordained permanent deacons, but only unmarried men committed to lifelong celibacy can be ordained deacons if they are planning to become priests.
Diocesan Priest: Priests under the direction of their local bishop. Most serve in the parishes of the diocese, but they may also be assigned to other diocesan ministries or released for service outside the diocese.
Diocese: A territorial division of the Church headed by a bishop.
Extern Priest: A priest with faculties to minister in a diocese or archdiocese who was not ordained in that diocese or archdiocese. For example, a diocesan priest from the Diocese of Springfield who has been granted faculties to minister by the Archdiocese of Chicago is an extern priest.*
Faculty/Faculties: Church authorization, given by the law itself or by a Church superior, to perform certain official acts.
Flock: Members of the Catholic Church. Derived from Catholic teachings that clergy are like shepherds guiding a flock.*
Laicize or Defrock: The process by which a priest is returned to the lay state. It is sometimes used as a penalty for a serious crime, but also can come at the request of the priest. A laicized priest is barred from all priestly ministry with one exception: He may give absolution to someone in immediate danger of death. The pope must approve all requests for laicization. When a priest is laicized without his consent for a crime, such as committing child sexual abuse, it is sometimes called defrocking.
Ministry: Any activity conducive to the salvation of souls. It can include ordained ministry such as liturgical leadership and administration of the sacraments, or lay ministry such as instructing children in the faith, serving the poor, visiting the sick, or being an altar server, reader, or music leader at mass.
Monsignor: An honorary ecclesiastical title granted by the pope to some diocesan priests.
Nun: A member of a religious order of women who has taken solemn or simple vows.
Ordained/Ordination: Ordination is the sacramental ceremony in which a man becomes a deacon, priest, or bishop. A cleric who has undergone ordination is known as ordained.*
Parish: A specific community within a diocese with its own church building and under the authority of a pastor who is responsible for providing ministerial service. Most parishes are formed on a geographic basis, but they may be formed along national or ethnic lines.
Pastor: A priest in charge of a Catholic parish or congregation.
Penance: Acts performed to atone for committed sins, as directed by a priest in the Catholic sacrament of reconcilliation.*
Rectory: Residential housing for clergy provided by the Church. A rectory can also contain administrative offices for a parish.*
Religious Cleric: Professed member of a religious order or institute. Religious clergy live according to the rule of their respective orders.
Religious Order or Order: An institution of men or women, at least some of whose members take solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and whose male members are sometimes ordained.*
Seminary: An educational institution for men preparing for the priesthood.
Vicar: A cleric who acts in the name of another cleric.*
Vicar general: A priest, auxiliary bishop, or coadjutor bishop who assists the diocesan bishop in the governance of the diocese.
Victims Assistance Coordinator: A diocesan employee who has been designated to coordinate assistance to survivors of sex abuse by clerics.*