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Father Joseph Lessard arrived in the Diocese of Rockford in 1987. The letter from the Diocese of Phoenix introducing him said nothing about the reason he could no longer stay in Arizona—a conviction for sexually abusing a boy less than two years earlier. Documents in the Diocese of Rockford’s files indicate it was aware of Lessard’s past yet took him in anyway. It allowed him to work as a hospital chaplain and also live in the rectory of a parish where he assisted with communion. Private notes quote Bishop Arthur O’Neill of Rockford providing a chilling justification ...

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Jerome "Jerry" Pilon

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1997-2003: Texas; Michigan

Reported Survivors:

Eusebio (Chevy) Pantoja Segura

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1967: Chicago, IL
1969: Chicago, IL
Early 1970s: Texas

Reported Survivors:

Thomas Barry Horne

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

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Francis A. Skube

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1964: St. Clair County, IL

Reported Survivors:

Father Francis Skube arrived in the Diocese of Belleville sometime in the late 1950s or early 1960s. He sold himself as the cofounder and superior of a religious order called Franciscan Brothers of Christ the King. Even then, though, his sexual interest in children was no secret to some church officials. A March 1959 letter to an official in the Diocese of Springfield from the pastor of Saint Francis in Provo, Utah, warned “Skube will cause a great deal of spiritual damage while masquerading as religious.” The pastor said he “expelled” Skube from Saint Francis some ...

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Garrett Neal Dee

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1964-1967: Blessed Sacrament, Springfield, IL
1971: Holy Family, Decatur, IL
1978: Church of the Little Flower, Springfield, IL
1981-1987: Visitation, Illiopolis, IL

Reported Survivors:

Henry Joseph Walsh

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Joseph M. Lessard

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1980s: Out of state

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

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Salvatore V. Formusa

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1968: Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Father Salvatore Formusa served within the Archdiocese of Chicago at the beginning of his career and abused children while serving in the Diocese of Joliet later in his career. Today, the Diocese of Joliet and the Archdiocese of Chicago acknowledge Formusa as having been credibly accused of sexually abusing children. Formusa was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago in 1935. His third assignment after ordination was to Saint Anthony in Joliet in 1945; he served there until 1950. In December 1948, Pope Pius XII issued a decree establishing the new Diocese of Joliet from portions of ...

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William J. Meagher

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

John Anderson

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1979-1984: Peoria County, IL
1988-1990: Peoria County, IL
Unknown: Peoria County, IL
Unknown: Colorado

Reported Survivors:

Thomas Job

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1969-1970: Mundelein, IL
1969-1975: Northlake, IL
1978-1982: LaGrange, IL
1978-1982: Antioch, IL
1983-1986: Fox Lake, IL
1983-1986: South Dakota
1983-1986: Cancun, Mexico
1983-1986: Canada
1983-1986: Copenhagen, Denmark
1983-1986: Germany
1983-1986: Iceland
1983-1986: Luxembourg

Reported Survivors:

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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

“Matthew,” a survivor of Father Ralph Strand, reached out to the Attorney General’s investigators to help shine a light on the issue of clergy child sex abuse. After years of abuse and decades of recovery, Matthew was able to share what Strand did to him. Matthew believes the Archdiocese of Chicago should take responsibility for assisting survivors in moving forward. “Victims and survivors have carried an undue and unfair burden; the church has completely failed in taking responsibility for the long-term traumatic impact of child sexual abuse.” “Victims and...

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Alfredo Pedraza Arias

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

2014: DeKalb County, IL
Unknown: Kane County, IL

Reported Survivors:

Thomas McShane

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

Unknown

Reported Survivors:

At least 1

Raymond F. Kownacki

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

1970-1973: Lawrence County, IL
1970-1973: St. Clair County, IL
1973-1982: Marion County, IL
1985-1987: Monroe County, IL
Unknown: Marion County, IL

Reported Survivors:

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William Wert

Date/Location of Reported Abuse:

2007: Washington, D.C.
2010-2011: Venice, FL

Reported Survivors:

Even after Father William Wert was convicted of assaulting a 14 year old boy, his Carmelite religious order let him move to the group’s retirement home. And while he was there, Wert was criminally convicted of sexually abusing another 14 year old boy. Given these convictions, one would have hoped the Carmelite order and the Diocese of Joliet—where Wert ministered for over a decade—would have disclosed Wert on their public lists of credibly accused priests. They did not do so, however, until the Attorney General’s investigators intervened. After ministering across the ...

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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.*