All are welcome!  Stay tuned for more summer dates and locations!

We want to clearly state again, as we have repeatedly told the Attorney General (AG), we will post on our weblist clerics belonging to religious orders or other diocese who served in a ministry of the Archdiocese and have been the subject of a substantiated allegation of sexual abuse of a minor, if the responsible order or diocese provides that information.
It appears the AG’s office received information during its investigation about substantiated allegations involving clerics not on our weblist and they did not bring that information to our attention. It was for this reason our statements expressed concern that we learned of many of these names for the first time when the AG Report was released.
The AG Report listed 125 clerics whom they say should be added to the weblist. Five are already listed. We have previously communicated to the AG that 57 of the individuals they name were not clerics or they did not serve in a ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago. We are looking at the remaining 63 more closely to determine whether any of them should be added to the weblist. We will also follow up on any new information the AG has and will provide us.
If the AG received confirmation of substantiated cases from other dioceses and religious orders during the course of his investigation, we ask him to share that information with us so we can determine if the individuals involved served in a ministry of the Archdiocese of Chicago. In such cases, the names of those individuals will be posted on our weblist.
Given our commitment to provide accurate and complete information to the public and to our parishioners we cannot, on our own and absent that information, post the names of individuals for whom we do not have access or a right to the access of their files. We cannot act in a way that is contrary to how the Church is structured or that undermines the credibility of the information we share.
Despite many discussions of this topic with the Attorney General, the Report creates the impression that the archdiocese has authority over or is responsible for religious order members. We do not. We have done our best to verify information given to us by these separate church organizations. Religious orders run 4 universities, 15 hospitals, many shrines, churches and other ministries within Cook and Lake counties. They are required to have child protection policies and procedures in place and to have their operations certified by groups such as Praesidium. They do not report to us except when individual members seek permission to administer the sacraments.
One final point. We have reported every single allegation of child sexual abuse by a cleric known to us. In 2002, we cooperated with the office of then-State’s Attorney Richard Devine to report all allegations found in an extensive search of historical files, and we have reported every allegation since.
This is the opposite of hiding.
We believe the Attorney General needs to make clear to the public and our parishioners that there was nothing discovered in his investigation that contradicts this assertion.

Above is a video from Cardinal Cupich in response to the report issued
on May 23rd by the Illinois Attorney General on Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse in Illinois.  You can find the written statement from Cardinal Cupich on the report here.

In addition, the Catholic Dioceses of Illinois have published a statement and summary of their processes for handling allegations of Sexual Abuse of Minors Against Clerics, which can be found here.

Plans for our parish garden at St. Philip the Apostle (behind the rectory) are in full swing.  As in prior years, we will share the bounty from the garden with the homebound and those on our prayer list. We are looking for help during the planting and/or growing season, which is a great family volunteer opportunity.

​If you are interested in joining the fun, please contact Bill Doll at 847.441.5099. Monetary donations also are welcome. If you wish to contribute, place your donation in an envelope marked “Parish Garden” and place it in the Sunday collection basket. You can also make an online contribution via our safe and secure Give Central website by clicking here.

Have you participated in Alpha at Divine Mercy?  Then come on out on June 1st and reconnect with your group and all those who've attended Alpha since 2019 when it was first introduced to Divine Mercy Parish.  Join us!