CHICAGO (WAND) - Leaders in the Diocese of Springfield responded Wednesday to a report that released names of clergy and laypersons accused of sexual misconduct.
Jeff Anderson & Associates, based out of St. Paul, Minnesota, compiled the report. The 185-page report contains the names, photographs, assignment history and the allegations against each of the accused.
Advocates also demanded on Wednesday that the bishops in Illinois come clean by releasing the names of all clergy and laypersons accused of sexually abusing minors while working in Illinois.
Almost 400 clergy and laypersons are named in the report. Of those, 23 worked at one point in the Diocese of Springfield, and another 29 did in the Diocese of Peoria.
All of the officials named in Springfield and Peoria dioceses are either dead or their whereabouts are unknown.
In its comments, the Diocese of Springfield echoed a "profound sadness and deep sorrow" for what happened during "a dark chapter in our Church history", but offered some strong words in response.
A statement attributed to spokesperson Andrew Hansen said the following:
"In terms of today’s report from Mr. Jeff Anderson, the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois has already published a website (promise.dio.org) with the names of 19 priests with credible allegations of sexual abuse of a minor, none of whom are in active ministry, and 13 of whom are deceased. Some of those names clearly noted as deceased on this website appear as “status unknown” in Mr. Anderson’s report, despite his claims to have diligently and thoroughly reviewed all publicly available information. Further, Mr. Anderson claims that many credibly accused priests are still active in ministry, although there are none in the Springfield Diocese and Mr. Anderson was only able to identify one among his statewide list of nearly 400. The facts are clear in the Diocese of Springfield that the majority of instances of abuse occurred more than 30 years ago, and only one instance has occurred in the past 20 years."
The Diocese also offered a direct response to several names mentioned in connection to Springfield (see the below list) that it doesn't have on its own list of credible allegations:
"Father Frank Martinez is a priest of the Diocese of Davenport, Iowa and was in the Springfield Diocese for six weeks in 1985, from Oct. 7 to Nov. 19, at which point he resigned his position as a hospital chaplain. There are no records of allegations of abuse by Father Martinez during his six weeks here.
The allegations involving Father Stanislaus Yunker and Father Louis Schlangen were related to alleged events of more than 30 years ago. When the diocese was made aware of these allegations, diocesan officials reported it to civil authorities and no charges were brought. In addition, the Diocesan Review Board, which is comprised of predominantly lay people not employed by the diocese with professional backgrounds in areas such as state and local law enforcement, criminal and civil law, education, and psychology, and a victim and survivor of clergy abuse, reviewed the allegations and did not find them credible.
Regarding the case of Father Richard Niebrugge who died 1983, a lawsuit was filed against him in 2004. That lawsuit was dismissed by the courts. There was no attempt, as Mr. Anderson claims, to cover up these allegations. They were publicly filed and civilly litigated."
The response from the Diocese of Springfield ends with criticism of the report:
"Mr. Anderson claims simultaneously that his report only includes names of priests already publicly accused, while also saying that the report is new. The report is an impressive professional marketing brochure, but it does not represent, as Mr. Anderson suggests, a thorough and diligent review of the publicly available facts, and it is highly misleading and irresponsible."
A response from the Catholic Diocese of Peoria is also available in a PDF document attached to this story.
WAND has compiled the lists of the clergy and layperson accused in both the Springfield and Peoria dioceses. Here is the list from Springfield:
Here is the list from Peoria:
