Illinois AG Report Reveals Widespread Catholic Clergy Sex Abuse Cover-Up

The Catholic Church in Illinois, including the Archdiocese of Chicago, vastly underreported clergy sex abuse, according to a report by Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul. The report found that the church failed to acknowledge hundreds of allegedly abusive priests and other religious figures, with 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers found to have abused at least 1,997 children across all of the dioceses of Illinois. The investigation was launched in 2018 after a grand jury investigation in Pennsylvania found more than 300 Catholic clergy members there had molested more than 1,000 kids over the preceding decades.