Retired JFX Monsignor Accused Of Child Sex Abuse At Chicago Parish

WILMETTE, IL — A retired Monsignor is stepping aside from ministry after an allegation of child sexual abuse. The abuse is alleged to have happened 30 years ago at a parish on Chicago’s Northwest Side.

According to Cardinal Blase Cupich, the Archdiocese of Chicago received a child sex abuse allegation against Monsignor Daniel Mayall. The alleged sex abuse occurred at St. Francis Borgia in Chicago, where Mayall served as pastor from July 1993 to January 2001.

Letters were sent over the weekend to parishioners at Saints Jospeh and Francis Xavier Parish in Wilmette, and St. Francis Borgia Parish in the Belmont Terrace neighborhood on the city’s outer Northwest Side edges at Belmont and Forest Preserve Drive.

“In keeping with our child protection policies, I have directed Monsignor Mayall to remain out of ministry and refrain from all parish and school activities,” Cardinal Cupich said. “While Monsignor strenuously denies this allegation, he has agreed to cooperate with this direction.”

Following his assignment, Mayall was assigned to the North Shore, where he served as pastor of St. Joseph Parish from July 2016 to December 2018, and as senior pastor of St. Joseph from January 2019 to June 2019.

In 2019, St. Joseph merged with the St. Xavier Parish under, also in Wilmette, under the archdiocese’s Renew My Church plan. Both parishes were four of five that consolidated that year in Wilmette and Winnetka.

Mayall served as senior pastor at the combined Saints Joseph and Xavier, or JFX, parish from 2019 to 2021. He has continued to reside at JFX since his retirement in 2021.

The cardinal explained in his letters that the matter has been reported to civil authorities, including the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, who will conduct an investigation. The Archdiocese of Chicago Independent Review Board review the allegation internally.

“We do not presume the truth or falsity of an allegation until the process is complete and I
have received our IRB’s recommendation for my decision,” Cupich continued. “Only by conducting a thorough and impartial review can we ensure fairness to all concerned.”

Meanwhile, the cardinal assured anyone who feels they have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee to come forward, where “they will be received with dignity and compassion.”

Complete information about reporting sexual abuse can be found on the archdiocesan website at the Archdiocese of Chicago Reports.