Midlothian Priest Accused Of Sex Abuse Reinstated To Parish

MIDLOTHIAN, IL –Cardinal Blase Cupich reinstated a priest who was accused of abusing a minor in 1979 when he was assigned to St. Christopher Parish in Midlothian.

Cupich said in a letter to parishoners over the weekend that the Independent Review Board determined that the allegations were "unfounded," and that the Rev. Patrick Lee would be reinstated to his Lake View, Chicago, church. He said that Lee was asked to step aside from his duties at Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Church in Chicago, and that he cooperated with civil and church authorities. Lee, he added, "took the occasion to reaffirm his longstanding conviction that the Church must remain vigilant in protecting our children, and that we should spare no effort to bring healing to victim survivors who have been harmed."

Last December, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan issued a report about clergy sexual abuse, that said that Catholic dioceses in Illinois has not released the names of at least 500 clergy accused of sexually abusing children. The report found that the church's six archdioceses have done a woefully inadequate job of investigating allegations and in some cases did not investigate them at all or notify the state's child welfare agency. Madigan's office said that while the dioceses have disclosed 45 more names of those credibly accused, the total number of names disclosed is only 185 and raises questions about the church's response to the crisis. The church later released more names of priests who had been accused.

In January, Cupich then removed Lee as priest of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel to investigate the allegations that were said to have happened at St. Christopher. The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office handled the investigation. On June 15, they found no evidence that Lee had committed sexual abuse.

"Therefore, both out of regard for Father Lee and all our priests, I am resolved to see that Father Lee’s good name is restored," Cupich said.