Chicago archdiocese releases documents detailing sexual abuse by priests BY FRANCINE KNOWLES, KIM JANSSEN aND ART GOLAB Staff Reporters 
 
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 Kathy Laarveld, mother of a victim, and Joe Iacono, a victim himself, at a news conference on the release of files of Catholic priests credibly accused of sexually abusing minors in the Archdiocese of Chicago, on Tuesday, January 21, 2014. Fifty years after he was sexually abused by a priest, he welcomed the release of Archdiocese of Chicago documents Tuesday that revealed the archdiocese concealed allegations of sexual abuse by serial abusers, moved priests with multiple accusations against them, and typically did not immediately notify authorities of the abuse — putting more children at risk. “The documents “reflect [a] systematic, ongoing, decades-long continuous pattern of conscious choices by top officials of the archdiocese from Cardinal Cody to Bernardin to Cardinal George,” Anderson said. About a dozen more allegations have surfaced since, according to the documents. ■ George kept Joseph Bennett in ministry for nearly four years after allegations of abuse surfaced against him. Bennett, now 73, has never been charged with a crime. ■ The late priest Robert Becker, who at times was accused of abusing in tandem with the late priest Kenneth Ruge, was moved following allegations. Thomas Kelly, stressed that archdiocesan and other church leaders should have done much more to protect children. “The victims. It will give them hope.”
– The Archdiocese of Chicago has released more than 6,000 pages of internal documents showing decades of hidden sexual abuse by 30 priests. Priests accused of abuse still received promotions, while alleged victims faced church-backed investigations, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. The church moved accused priests between parishes and left abuse unreported; most of the men were never prosecuted, the Chicago Tribune notes. None of the 30 priests, 14 of whom have died, are currently in the ministry, the archdiocese says. No allegations in the documents, released following a lawsuit, occurred after 1996, it adds—though some allegations came to light during the tenure of current Cardinal Francis George, the Tribune notes. The vicar general of the third-largest archdiocese in the US says the church didn't try to cover up the abuse, though he acknowledged that the institution made mistakes, the Sun-Times notes. Among the cases noted by the newspapers: Despite abuse accusations, Cardinals John Cody and Joseph Bernardin let Vincent McCaffrey, who eventually admitted abusing more than a dozen people between 1976 and 1990, stay in the priesthood, switching between parishes; he was finally defrocked in 2010. McCaffrey received a 20-year sentence for child pornography. Father Robert Becker also got a transfer following allegations; he was accused of attacks involving another priest, Kenneth Ruge. Becker was accused of abusing three siblings. Robert Mayer was appointed pastor even after several allegations emerged. The church board of vicars backed the appointment. Following allegations of child abuse, Cardinal John Cody wrote to the Rev. Raymond Skriba in 1970: "I feel that this whole matter should be forgotten by you as it has been forgotten by me … No good can come of trying to prove or disprove the allegations."