An additional layer of the Catholic Church’s sexual abuse scandals was revealed as of Dec. 17, when an other list of accused priests was made public by the USA Midwest Province Jesuits that included six former clergy members of Loyola Academy.
Three days later, the Illinois attorney general released reports in which they discovered six of the state’s diocese failed to disclose 500 additional allegation cases of priest molestation to authorities, meaning 75 percent of established victims reports went unheard.
While new developments have emerged, the Catholic Church’s reported history of abuse dates all the way back to 1955, right around when Loyola’s first incident occurring with Reverend Donald J McGuire.
McGuire’s abuse of Loyola students continued until 1957 when he, like many other clerical predators, was relocated to various institutions where his patterns of assault would span all the way to 2005.
The list on Midwest Jesuits Website was published with a statement saying that, “Many of these allegations were made after an accused Jesuit died and therefore he did not have the opportunity to respond for himself,” and that the list was in no way legal action against the alleged.
While McGuire served prison time, several of the other accused Loyola priests, including, Rev. Wilton L. Skiffington, Rev. Gerald A. Streeter, Rev. Ignatius M. Burrill, and Rev. Donald J O’Shaug would die before facing little to no forms of consequence despite believable evidence, making Midwest’s claims appear to be evasive to the suffering that was caused.
Former Loyola Academy President, Rev. M Lawrence Reuter, who was permanently “defrocked,” or stripped of any kind of clergy association, had several valid accusations against him, yet still served the longest serving presidency from 1975 to 1990, an example of the victim-shaming culture that often exists around cases of assault that involves religious institutions.
The seemingly “hush-hush” nature of clerical abuse sparked the Boston Globe to uncover a similar report in 2002 following the story of father John G. Geoghan, a Boston Priest, who fondled or raped more than 130 children.
Despite stories of abuse that spanned three-decades, the cardinal and bishops overseeing Geoghan did little to stop it.
What the Globe team investigated would later become the inspiration for the movie “Spotlight,” but more importantly would allow for secrets hidden for generations to finally come forward.
“The safety, security and well-being of our students are our highest priorities. Loyola Academy teachers, counselors, coaches, campus ministers and staff members are committed to creating a supportive and loving community where our students feel safe and thrive,” stated
Loyola Academy Communications.
“We thoroughly screen our applicants and conduct annual criminal background checks for all school personnel, as well as annually process our employees through the state child abuse and neglect tracking system.”
Loyola now requires all employees to go through an orientation upon being hired and continues throughout the individuals’ career to enforce clear boundaries between adults and minors.
The school stressed as well that staff is required by law to be “mandated reporters”and step in if they witness anything suspicious.
On Feb. 21, Pope Francis met with 190 bishops from around the world to discuss the events that unfolded last December. He ended simply by saying, “listen to the cry of children who ask for justice.”
Loyola Academy encourages victims of abuse, no matter how recent the incident, to both contact law enforcement as well as Midwest Province’s director of the Office of Safe Environment, Marjorie O’Dea.
Father Brian Paulson, provincial of the USA Midwest Province, said within the next year there would be an another review of the organizations’ records by consultants from Hillard Heintze.