Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois
Diocese of Joliet in Illinois Diœcesis Joliettensis in Illinois | |
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R. Daniel Conlon | |
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diojoliet |
The Diocese of Joliet in Illinois (
The mother church of the diocese is the
Territory
The Diocese of Joliet in Illinois comprises the City of Joliet and its surrounding counties:
DuPage, Ford, Grundy, Iroquois, Kankakee, Kendall and Will.[2]
History
Early history
During the 17th century, present day Illinois was part of the French colony of
With the creation of the
The construction of the
Diocese of Joliet in Illinois
In 1948, Pope Pius XII established the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, removing its territory from the Archdiocese of Chicago, to meet the demands of the exponential growth of Catholicism in the region. He named Martin McNamara of Chicago as the first bishop. McNamara selected St. Raymond's church as the cathedral. By 1950, the 540-seat church proved inadequate and he began planning a new facility. He consecrated the new Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus on May 26, 1955.[7] In 1985, Pope Paul VI appointed Romeo Blanchette of the Archdiocese of Chicago as an auxiliary bishop in Joliet.
After McNamara died in 1966, Paul VI appointed Blanchette as the second bishop of Joliet in Illinois. He served as bishop until 1979, resigning due to health issues. Blanchette's replacement, Auxiliary
With Imesch's retirement in 2006,
Pope Francis in 2020 named Auxiliary Bishop Ronald Hicks of the Archdiocese of Chicago as the next bishop of the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois. As of 2023, Hicks is the current serving bishop of Joliet in Illinois.
In 2024, the Diocese announced that five Catholic churches and two Catholic schools would close in the Joliet area.[9]
Reports of sex abuse
Reverend Alejandro Flores, a priest at Holy Family Church in Shorewood, was accused in January 2010 of sexually abusing a boy starting in 2004, when the boy was ten years old, while Flores was a seminarian. A few days after learning of the accusation, Flores attempted suicide.[10] He pleaded guilty in September 2010 to one count of criminal sexual assault. After his release from prison in 2013, Flores was deported to Bolivia.[11] He was laicized in 2020.[12]
In September 2012, Bishop Conlon reinstated Reverend F. Lee Ryan, a diocese priest, to ministry and assigned him to serve homebound parishioners. The diocese had suspended Ryan in 2010 from ministry in
In a 2015 lawsuit brought against the diocese by 14 sexual abuse victims, it was revealed that Bishop Blanchette ignored the inappropriate behavior of certain seminarians, allowing them to be ordained as priests for the diocese:
- Blanchette allowed the ordination of Lawrence Gibbs in 1973. As a seminarian, he had been expelled from Saint Mary of the Lake Seminary due to behavior issues. The seminary warned Blanchette to watch Gibbs. After receiving a sexual abuse accusation about Gibbs in 1980, Bishop Imesch transferred him to another diocese. Gibbs resigned from the priesthood in the 1990s.[15]
- Blanchette allowed James Nowak to be ordained. The Capuchin Order had dismissed Nowak as a seminarian due to his admitted failure to keep his vow of chastity. In 2012, the diocese received its first allegation of sexual abuse of minors by Nowak, then a priest at Saints Peter and Paul Parish in Naperville.[16] The diocese immediately removed him from ministry. After investigation, it was determined that Nowak had abused eight children.[17][18]
In April 2015, the diocese settled with the 14 sex abuse victims, including those of Nowak and Gibbs, for over $4 million.[19]
A list released by the diocese in August 2018 revealed the names of 35 clergy who served in the diocese during a 70-year period and were credibly accused of sex abuse.[20] That same month, the diocese announced that it had agreed to pay $1.4 million to two brothers and another male who said they had been sexually abused by Reverend Leonardo Mateo during the early 1980s. The plaintiffs stated that Mateo would take them for ice cream and swimming, then sexually assault them at his residence.[21] After the diocese started receiving complaints about Mateo in 1991, he admitted some guilt. The diocese removed him from ministry. Before the end of the year, Mateo returned to his native Philippines.[22]
In October 2019, Conlon and the diocese were named in a $100,000
In March 2023, the estate of a young man sued the diocese, claiming that he had been sexually abused by Alejandro Flores in 2008. The lawsuit said that Flores forcibly touched the genitals of the alleged victim, then eight years old. After suffering from
On May 23, 2023, the Illinois Attorney General released a report on Catholic clergy child sex abuse in Illinois. The multi-year investigation found that more than 450 Catholic clergy in Illinois abused nearly 2,000 children since 1950.[26][27]
Bishops
Bishops of Joliet in Illinois
- Martin Dewey McNamara (Dec 17, 1948, – May 23, 1966)
- Romeo Roy Blanchette (Jul 19, 1966, – Jan 30, 1979)
- Joseph Leopold Imesch (Jun 30, 1979, – May 16, 2006)
- Archbishop of Seattle[28]
- Robert Daniel Conlon (May 17, 2011, – May 4, 2020)
- Ronald A. Hicks (July 17, 2020 – present)[29]
Auxiliary bishops
- Romeo Roy Blanchette (Feb 8, 1965, – Jul 19, 1966), appointed Bishop of Joliet
- Raymond James Vonesh (Jan 5, 1968, – May 7, 1991)
- Archbishop of Dubuque
- Daniel L. Ryan (Aug 14, 1981, – Nov 22, 1984), appointed Bishop of Springfield in Illinois
- Roger Kaffer (Apr 25, 1985, – Aug 15, 2002)
- James Edward Fitzgerald (Jan 11, 2002, – Jun 5, 2003)
- Joseph M. Siegel (Oct 28, 2009, – Oct 18, 2017), appointed Bishop of Evansville[29][30]
Apostolic administrators
Richard E. Pates (Dec 27, 2019, – Jul 17, 2020)[29]
Major churches
- Cathedral of St. Raymond Nonnatus – Joliet
- National Shrine of Mary Immaculate Queen of the Universe – Lombard
- National Shrine of Saint Thérèse – Darien[31]
High schools
- Benet Academy – Lisle[32]
- Bishop McNamara High School – Kankakee[33]
- Chesterton Academy of the Holy Family – Lisle[34]
- IC Catholic Prep – Elmhurst[33]
- Joliet Catholic Academy – Joliet[32]
- Montini Catholic High School – Lombard[32]
- Providence Catholic High School – New Lenox[33]
- St. Francis High School – Wheaton[32]
References
- ^ a b "Facts and Figures".
- ^ "About Us: Statistics". Diocese of Joliet. Archived from the original on May 4, 2020. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ "Our History". Archdiocese of Baltimore. Archived from the original on July 24, 2008. Retrieved March 30, 2009.
- ^ "Freedom of Religion Comes to Boston | Archdiocese of Boston". www.bostoncatholic.org. Retrieved February 25, 2023.
- ^ Thompson, Joseph J. (1927). "Diocese of Springfield in Illinois; diamond jubilee history" (PDF). University of Illinois. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
- ^ "The USF Centennial". University of St. Francis. Retrieved April 14, 2023.
- ^ "History of the Diocese of Joliet, Illinois". Diocese of Joliet. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
- ^ "The Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet in Illinois". www.dioceseofjoliet.org. Retrieved April 26, 2022.
- ^ "Cash-strapped Joliet diocese announces closure of Catholic churches, schools". Chicago Sun Times. Retrieved February 15, 2024.
- ^ Lutz, B. J. (January 7, 2010). "Bishop "Saddened" Over Priest's Apparent Suicide Attempt". NBC Chicago. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- ^ "Pedophile Priest Deported to Bolivia". NBC Chicago. August 8, 2013. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- ^ "Alejandro Flores | Information". clergyreport.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- ^ "Reverend Reinstated Despite Previous Molestation Charge". HuffPost. September 13, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ "Bishop Changes Mind on Letting Suspect Priest Minister". Joliet, IL Patch. September 19, 2012. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ "Bishop was warned about priest". Chicago Tribune. June 22, 2002. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ "Naperville priest investigated". Retrieved July 6, 2023 – via PressReader.
- ^ "Joliet Diocese Settles Victims' Abuse Claims Against 'Savage, Scary' Priests for Over $4M". Plainfield, IL Patch. April 15, 2015. Retrieved June 7, 2022.
- ^ "Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet Settles Claims of 14 Individuals Who Were Abused by Priests – Illinois Child Sex Abuse Attorneys". April 15, 2015. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ^ "Joliet Diocese settles alleged sex abuse cases with more than $4M". ABC7 Chicago. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- ^ "35 Joliet Area Priests Had 'Credible' Child Sex Abuse Allegations". August 20, 2018. Archived from the original on September 30, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ^ "$1.4 million settlement reached between Joliet Diocese, 3 men who allege priest sexually abused them in '80s". Chicago Tribune. August 31, 2018. Archived from the original on September 29, 2018. Retrieved September 29, 2018.
- ^ "Father Leonardo Mateo" (PDF). Bishop Accountability. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- ^ Bonty, Jeff (October 31, 2019). "Joliet Diocese, bishop named in abuse civil suit". The Daily Journal. Retrieved December 8, 2021.
- ^ Bonty, Jeff (January 27, 2023). "Jacklin sentenced to 18 years in sexual assault conviction". The Daily Journal. Retrieved July 5, 2023.
- ^ "Pedophile Priest Alejandro Flores, Joliet Diocese Face Sex Abuse Suit". Joliet, IL Patch. March 10, 2023. Retrieved July 6, 2023.
- ^ "Report On Catholic Clergy Child Sex Abuse In Illinois 2023". Office of the Attorney General - State of Illinois. May 23, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
- ^ Foody, Kathleen; Tarm, Michael (May 23, 2023). "Catholic clergy sexually abused Illinois kids far more often than church acknowledged, state finds". AP News. Retrieved February 20, 2024.
- ^ "Most Reverend J. Peter Sartain". Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ a b c "Bishops who have served the Joliet Diocese". Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ Harris, Elise (October 18, 2017). "Pope taps Joliet auxiliary to head Evansville diocese". Catholic News Agency. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
- ^ "Diocese of Joliet, USA". GCatholic.org. Archived from the original on January 3, 2023. Retrieved February 15, 2023.
- ^ a b c d "Nondiocesan-operated Catholic Schools". Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ a b c "High Schools". Roman Catholic Diocese of Joliet. Archived from the original on December 29, 2022. Retrieved December 29, 2022.
- ^ "Chesterton Academy of the Holy Family". Archived from the original on June 20, 2020. Retrieved May 3, 2020.