During his visit to the Vatican, where he serves as a close adviser to Pope Francis, Cardinal Cupich spoke to The Associated Press about his disappointment in learning about the 125 new cases through the state-wide investigative report released on Tuesday.

He emphasised that the attorney general's office had not forwarded the new claims to the archdiocese for further investigation, as they had done during the five-year inquiry.

"We thought we had that kind of relationship with the attorney general and so are disappointed that we're hearing these for the first time," expressed Cupich.

Attorney General Kwame Raoul's investigation revealed that approximately 450 Catholic clergy members in Illinois' six dioceses had sexually abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950.

A far worse situation

This extensive report unveiled a far worse situation than previously acknowledged by the church in 2018 when the state's review commenced. The Archdiocese of Chicago, the third largest in the United States, reported 68 abusive clergy members in 2018.

However, as the investigation progressed, more names were added to the list, bringing the total to 150 prior to Tuesday's release.

The report by Attorney General Raoul uncovered an additional 125 abusers within the Archdiocese of Chicago.

Many of these offenders belonged to religious orders whose cases may not have been under the direct jurisdiction of the archdiocese.

Furthermore, it is possible that some victims chose to bypass the church altogether and report their claims directly to the attorney general's investigators.

Cardinal Cupich conveyed his willingness to include the newly uncovered names on his list but stressed the need for information on how Raoul's investigators substantiated the claims.

He stated that the archdiocese required an understanding of the investigative process before taking further action.

"I can assure the public this: If these cases are substantiated and we're given the information of how it was done, we will put them on our website," asserted Cupich during the interview.

Compensation process to continue unchanged

In response to another recommendation calling for an independent mediation and compensation process for victims, similar to those established by the archdioceses of Los Angeles and New York, Cardinal Cupich was more defensive.

Cupich argued against outsourcing the compensation process, as it would hinder the church's ability to provide pastoral care to victims. However, he reassured the public that the current process, which has been in place for years, would be continued.

"My concern about contracting this out to a separate third party is that we turn ourselves into a business, not a church," Cupich explained.

Sources

US News

CathNews New Zealand

The archdiocese's vaccination policy will take effect on 4 Oct, giving unvaccinated employees six weeks from FDA approval to get their vaccination. This is an additional week to the original five weeks proposed.

"We are providing an extra week to allow more time for individuals to plan and schedule their vaccinations," an archdiocese said in a memo yesterday.

While people will have an opportunity to request a medical exemption, religious objections will not be considered.

"We have made this decision convinced that this is the best way to stop the spread of this deadly illness," Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said in a Thursday email to clergy and staff.

"Following the lead of Pope Francis, we encourage everyone to be vaccinated as an act of charity. … Religious exemptions to vaccination cannot be supported by Catholic teaching. I have instructed our pastors not to grant them."

The policy comes from the Archdiocese of Chicago's COVID-19 Task Force, which has been praised by Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr Allison Arwady for implementing measures last year that enabled schools to reopen safely.

More than 90% of the archdiocese 15,000 employees have already been vaccinated. The policy does not apply to volunteers.

In a separate email to clergy and staff, the Chicago archdiocese outlined a new, temporary policy to address paid time off for vaccinated and unvaccinated workers.

Vaccinated employees who test positive for COVID-19 will get 10 additional sick days to cover quarantine requirements. However, unvaccinated people who cannot work remotely must use their accrued sick, personal or vacation time.

Unvaccinated people will be required to get tested weekly and wear masks in archdiocese facilities, according to the policy.

"The Diocese of Joliet echoes the message of Pope Francis' recent public service advertisement in encouraging all who are able to get vaccinated against COVID-19," Mary Massingale, the diocese's director of communications, said in the statement. But it does not plan on requiring its 2,700 employees or students to receive COVID-19 vaccines.

"The Rockford Diocese, like Pope Francis, believes that getting vaccinated against serious illness is an act of love and Christian charity to all the world," spokeswoman Penny Wiegert said in the statement. It is also not requiring that employees be vaccinated, but highly encouraging its 2,500 employees, volunteers, and members, to get a vaccine.

Sources

Chicago Business

America Magazine

Most of the mergers involve two or more parishes, many of which have schools associated with them. In two cases, four current parishes will be merged into one.

The investigation and decision-making process involved Feedback and Discernment Teams (which included representatives from each of the parishes and schools).

These Teams met to review and discern the future parish, school, and church structures for their respective areas and then submitted feedback reports to the Archdiocesan Standards and Recommendations Commission.

The Commission then met to review the feedback reports and other materials and information.

This included demographic data, financial summaries, and parish and grouping trends.

Cupich, his auxiliary bishops and the Presbyteral Council discussed the recommendations and ultimately made the decisions for the mergers.

The mergers will take effect July 1 and several schools will also close.

The mergers will reduce the number of parishes in the archdiocese to below 300. There were over 350 in 2016 and almost 450 in the mid-1980s.

One newspaper, the Chicago Tribune, has suggested that the Chicago archdiocese could be facing as much as $200 million in debts from clerical abuse settlements.

"Over the next few months, the archdiocese and the pastors of the current parishes will support the communities in their transition to the new parish and school structures," the archdiocesan announcement concluded.

"All parishes will embark on the next phase of the renewal process to become a stronger, more sustainable presence for the future, capable of reaching more people in their work of making disciples of Jesus Christ, building communities with one another and inspiring witness in the world around us."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• Image: National Catholic Reporter

The events leading to Fr Paul Kalchik's removal from his parish began at the beginning of this month. A statement in his parish newsletter announcing his intention to publicly burn a rainbow banner in front of the church drew media attention.

The banner was one that had been displayed in the parish church for several years.

According to a parish newsletter which describes the banner as "sacrilegious," the banner was found in storage "just when the news of the gay predation of Cardinal McCarrick broke."

When news of Kalchick's intention spread the following week, the archdiocesan vicar for clergy phoned Kalchik, instructing him not to proceed.

The archdiocese says it was "mutually agreed that the event would not take place.

"As Catholics, we affirm the dignity of all persons."

Kalchik has a different view of the conversation.

He says the archdiocese threatened him with "canonical penalties," - a claim the archdiocese denies.

It says there was no discussion of potential consequences for burning the flag because Kalchik voluntarily agreed to comply with the instruction.

Despite this apparent agreement, the banner was burned on 14 September in the fire pit ordinarily used by the parish during the Easter Vigil liturgy.

While the event was reportedly attended by Kalchik and only a handful of parishioners, images of the flag burning were circulated on the internet and generated strong reactions.

Some groups labeled Kalchik as homophobic and said the burning was a deliberately provocative act. A group called the Northwest Side Coalition Against Racism and Hate organised a demonstration condemning the burning.

Others see Kalchik's action as a stand against the pro-homosexual agenda in some parts of the Church.

In an interview after the flag was burned, Kalchik seemed to criticise Cupich, whom he accused of downplaying the Church's teaching on homosexuality and of rejecting a link between homosexuality and sexual abuse by clergy.

"I can't sit well with people like Cardinal Cupich who minimises all of this," he said.

"Excuse me, but almost all of the [abuse] cases are, with respect to priests, bishops and whatnot, taking and using other young men sexually. It's definitely a gay thing."

Kalchik also said he's not anti-gay and that he was "about as much of a gay basher as Mother Teresa."

Although the archdiocese insists that it was unrelated to the controversy surrounding the banner, no indication has been given to local parishioners - many of whom say they support Kalchik - as to exactly why their pastor was removed.

Cupich says in removing Kalchik he acted "out of concern" for Kalchik and parishioners. He said the 56-year-old priest needed "time away from the parish to receive pastoral support."

The archdiocese issued this statement: "…Archdiocese leadership previously contacted the pastor to notify him he could not move forward with that planned activity. We are following up on the situation. As Catholics, we affirm the dignity of all persons."

Source

• Catholic News Agency
• CBS News
• La Croix
• Queerty
• Image: Queerty

One wonders, however, if an accountant would reach the same conclusion.

When it comes to the financial dimension of Catholic life, there are certainly some deep pockets out there. Just to offer a few examples:

• The University of Notre Dame, America's flagship Catholic university, has an annual budget of $1.2 billion and an endowment estimated at $7.5 billion.
• The Archdiocese of Chicago last year reported cash, investments and buildings valued at $2.472 billion.
• The Knights of Columbus has more than $85 billion of life insurance in force, with $8 billion in annual sales.
• In Rome, the Institute for the Works of Religion, known popularly (if, some say, inaccurately) as the "Vatican Bank," administers assets in excess of $6 billion.
• American Catholics drop more than $8 billion every year into the Sunday collection plate, which works out to more than $150 million a week.
• In Germany, the Catholic church netted $8.8 billion in 2010 from the national "church tax," allowing it to remain the country's largest private employer after Volkswagen.

Simply ticking off those dollar amounts, however, two points are easy to miss. Read more

Sources

• John L Allen Jr in National Catholic Reporter
• Image: Web Gallery of Art