New lawsuits allege child sex abuse by priests at former Bronzeville Catholic church
Seven lawsuits filed Tuesday allege the Archdiocese of Chicago knew about sexual abuse at the former Holy Angels Parish in Bronzeville.
Several adults who said they were abused by Catholic priests decades ago when they were children filed lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Chicago for allegedly failing to protect them.
Attorneys with Hart McLaughlin & Eldridge filed seven civil lawsuits on Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court against the archdiocese, but said dozens more clients will be filing lawsuits in the coming days.
All of the accusers and the accused have ties to the former Bronzeville church, known as Holy Angels, between 1969 and 2002. The Archdiocese of Chicago said in a statement it does not comment on lawsuits.
“Some of these children were as young as 5 years old. Five-year-old children being sexually abused," said attorney Steven Hart. “Holy Angels was not a sanctuary for children. It was a sanctuary for predators.”
The lawsuits zero in on four priests, all of whom have since died. None were criminally charged. Among them was Rev. George Clements, a trailblazing Black priest who was regarded as a civil rights hero by many African American Catholics.
“The allegations in the complaint are not whispers – not rumors. They are documented decades-long betrayal of the most vulnerable children in the city,” Hart said.
Attorneys said they conducted hundreds of hours of research and interviews with survivors. All shared sensitive information decades later.
Angela Walker, with the Survivor’s Network of Those Abused by Priests, also known as SNAP, said "the church hierarchy needs to be held accountable."
"Compensate the victims for all they have gone through," Walker said. "We really commend them for coming forward, this is never easy to do."
Attorneys representing survivors said they believe there are more victims and hope they will come forward.
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