Chicago archdiocese settles sex abuse suit for $1.2 million

Catholic Sexual Abuse

The Archdiocese of Chicago has agreed to pay $1.2 million to a man who alleged that he was sexually abused when he was 12 years old by a defrocked priest who was convicted of sexually abusing several boys, the man’s attorney announced on Tuesday.

The settlement of the case before a lawsuit was filed was announced in a news release by attorney Lyndsay Markley and marks the latest chapter in the story of Daniel McCormack, one of the most notorious pedophiles in the history of Chicago’s archdiocese.

McCormack, who pleaded guilty in 2007 to sexually abusing five children while he was a priest at St. Agatha’s parish in Chicago, was released from prison last fall and has registered as a sex offender with the Illinois State Police. According to published reports, he was listed at that time as living in Chicago’s Near North neighborhood.

The settlement follows other similar settlements

Chicago Fire Department makes progress, but not enough, toward ending racial, sexual discrimination

Retaliation

A Chicago Fire Department that remains 91% male and 64% white has made some, but not all, of the changes needed to stop sexual and racial discrimination and protect employees who complain about it from retaliation, a new report concluded Tuesday.

Last year, Chicago’s now-former Inspector General Joe Ferguson shined a glaring spotlight on the white male bastion of city government and demanded immediate changes in policy, training and employee protection.

The audit was accompanied by a survey in which 73 of all 285 respondents, both male and female — that’s 26% — reported experiencing sexual harassment “at least once” at CFD.

Even more troubling was the rate of sexual harassment of women. Out of 45 female survey respondents, 28 — 62% — reported being

Chicago Approves $9.25 Million Settlement for Black Educators

Civil Rights

Hundreds of Black teachers and paraprofessionals will benefit from a $9.25 million settlement approved by the Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday, Dec. 15.

The board, while not admitting wrongdoing, agreed to give the Chicago Teachers Union the multi-million dollar settlement after being sued by them for the “racially disproportionate” layoffs and terminations of more than 400 workers over a three-year period.

The CTU filed a federal lawsuit against the Chicago Public Schools and Board of Education for laying off or firing African-American teachers and school staffers in “turnaround schools” in predominantly Black communities. After years of litigation, it seems that the union has achieved a breakthrough.

Catholic religious order Society of the Divine Word exporting abusive priests

Catholic Sexual Abuse

Even before he was ordained a Catholic priest, the Rev. Ronald Lange went to Ghana in 1968 to do missionary work.

In a profile by a community newspaper years later, Lange spoke of his commitment to learning about Ghana while teaching at schools there and leading a parish with more than a dozen worship sites.

“The people are just so happy to see you,” Lange, a member of the Society of the Divine Word’s Chicago province, based near Northbrook, was quoted as saying. “You don’t even have to be a good priest.”

And he wasn’t, as his order now acknowledges.