外网天堂

Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan says Illinois six Roman Catholic dioceses failed to disclose at least 500 sexual abuse cases involving priests. That鈥檚 one of the first findings the office has released so far in its ongoing investigation of the dioceses.

In an interview last week, Madigan said one of the goals of the investigation is to uncover both the extent of sexual abuse incidents in Illinois鈥� Catholic Church and whether church officials tried to cover them up.

鈥淔or decades, the Catholic Church was hiding these, in many ways, discrediting the victims and their families,鈥� she said.

It鈥檚 unclear at the moment which dioceses the priests involved in those cases were practicing in, and whether they鈥檙e still members of the clergy.

Since the investigation began in August, the six dioceses have altogether released the names of about 180 priests who had 鈥渃redible鈥� abuse allegations against them. But documents obtained by the Attorney General鈥檚 office show the Church did not notify the police or the Illinois Department of Child and Family Services about the hundreds of other cases.

Though some of the priests involved in those incidents have since died, Madigan says prosecution is still on the table.

鈥淥bviously there is a statute of limitations issue, sometimes with individual clergy members," she explained "But, as our investigation continues, we will certainly take legal action if it鈥檚 warranted.鈥�

Separately, the Attorney General's office says it's received 300 other abuse allegations via a clergy sexual abuse hotline that was launched in August.

Attorney General-elect Kwame Raoul released a statement Wednesday, saying he's "committed to continuing this investigation" when he takes office in January.

In another statement, Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Catholic Diocese of Springfield says he鈥檚 cooperating with the investigation, and called the non-disclosures a 鈥渧irtuous intent to protect the faithful from scandal.鈥�

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