Cardinal Could Be Called To Testify Over Priest's Deadly Hit-And-Run

ORLAND PARK, IL — Cardinal Blase Cupich could be called to testify in a trial over a fatal hit-and-run involving a priest who was initially accused of being intoxicated, Fox 32 reports.

St. Michael's Catholic Church Rev. Paul Burak was accused of killing an Orland Park teacher and hurting another after leaving a Christmas party at an Orland Park restaurant.

Burak was charged with driving under influence and leaving the scene of a fatal accident, both felonies. Prosecutors later dropped the DUI charge because of insufficient evidence. Burak died Jan. 11, 2021, and was replaced as a defendant by Mark Burak, special administrator of the late priest’s estate.

Rone (Margaret) Leja, the parish elementary school’s technology teacher, and third grade teacher Elizabeth Kosteck were walking back to their vehicles across a service road at Square Celt Ale House and Grill, when both were struck by Burak's vehicle. Authorities said the priest was intoxicated at the time. All of them were guests at the parish holiday party on Dec. 4, 2019. Burak fled after hitting the two women, with prosecutors saying he "blacked out" before the crash and later returned to the scene, but did not tell anyone he had hit them.

Kosteck had filed suit in 2020 against Burak; the suit now seeks punitive damages against the Archdiocese of Chicago.

"We are seeking leave to call Blase Cupich, archbishop of Chicago, at trial as a witness based on new disclosures that the archdiocese has filed in this case," Attorney Lance Northcutt said at a news conference Wednesday. "We have waited for years for justice for Elizabeth Kosteck and her friend who was killed, and what we are encountering now are a series of tactical delays."

The trial is set to begin Nov. 6.