Catholic Citizens of Illinois Calls for Action on Sex Abuse Scandal

Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich

CHICAGO, March 15, 2019 /Christian Newswire/ — Catholic Citizens of Illinois commends Pope Francis for addressing the sexual abuse crisis. We now call upon Blase Cardinal Cupich, as our Archbishop for the following:

Make full disclosure of the Vatican’s investigation of Theodore McCarrick.

Your unequivocal denial that you were aware of Theodore McCarrick’s reputation for abusing seminarians, or that he was responsible for your elevation to Chicago reassured us, and we are grateful for your calling for “responsibility, accountability and transparency” regarding McCarrick. We ask that you join Cardinal O’Malley’s call for the immediate release of the Vatican’s report on its McCarrick investigation.

Make full disclosure of credibly accused abusing priests.

We also commend you for the disclosures made to date of priests credibly accused of abuse. Not disclosed, however, are the years when, or the seminar(ies) where these priests trained, or the gender or age of their victim(s). There cannot be accountability without transparency. Nor can any reliable screening processes be in place unless we understand that for which we are screening. We call on you to disclose those additional details.

Reaffirm that men with homosexual inclinations cannot be priests.

Our beloved church is credibly accused of evading the extent of men with homosexual inclinations have been drawn to our seminaries, for example through Casa Jesus. We need full disclosure of what you found at Casa Jesus that caused you to shut it down and confirm also that you share the view of Pope Francis, that men with homosexual inclinations have no place in our seminaries, or our priesthood.

Reaffirm the Church’s teachings on human sexuality.

Our beloved Church teaches that men with homosexual inclinations are not “made that way,” but suffer from an objective disorder which if acted upon under no circumstances can acts be approved. We call on you to continue to teach clearly our Faith regarding human sexuality.

For further information, contact Kevin Edward White, at (312) 409-1845

Founded in 1997, Catholic Citizens of Illinois supports Catholic values in the public life of Illinois, educating our fellow Catholics to serve as responsible witnesses to Christ in the midst of human society. For more information about us, please visit CatholicCitizens.org.