New Lawsuits Claim Decades of Sexual Abuse by Clergy and Church Employees
Sixty people have filed lawsuits in Missouri alleging they were abused as children by dozens of Catholic priests, nuns, and other church officials. The lawsuits, filed this week in St. Louis and neighboring counties, name 56 alleged abusers and seek unspecified damages.
Omaha Archbishop George Lucas Named in Lawsuit
Among those accused is Omaha Archbishop George Lucas. A lawsuit filed Wednesday in St. Louis County Circuit Court claims the unnamed accuser was 16 when he met Lucas at the now-closed St. Louis Preparatory Seminary in the late 1980s. Lucas, who was a priest and dean of education at the time, is accused of sexually abusing the boy multiple times and offering better grades for sexual favors.
Lucas has strongly denied the accusations. In a statement on Thursday, he said, “I categorically deny the accusation made by an anonymous person. I have never had sexual contact with another person. I referred the matter to the apostolic nuncio, Pope Francis’ representative in Washington, D.C., for his guidance.”
Allegations Span Decades
The lawsuits allege abuse dating back to the 1940s and as recent as 2015. David Clohessy of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) highlighted that at least 10 of the alleged abusers are still alive, expressing concern for the potential risk they pose to others. Some of the accused have previously been convicted or named in previous civil cases.
Specific Allegations Detailed in Lawsuits
One lawsuit details that a priest and a nun sexually abused a girl with an intellectual disability from 1999 to 2002, when she was 8-12 years old. The priest allegedly threatened to kill the girl if she resisted. The lawsuit also claims that when she attended another school from 2002 to 2004, she was abused by another priest.
Allegations Against the Archdiocese of St. Louis
The lawsuits also name the Archdiocese of St. Louis and its current archbishop, Mitchell T. Rozanski, accusing them of knowing about the sexual abuse of young parishioners and children in the community without intervening.
“These shameless cover-ups spanned decades and allowed various clergy and other employees to access and sexually abuse numerous children,” the lawsuits state.
Historical Context and Previous Actions
Messages were left with the Archdiocese of St. Louis for comment. In 2019, the Archdiocese of St. Louis released the names of 61 clergy members facing substantiated allegations of sexual abuse of children. This followed a 2018 Pennsylvania report detailing the abuse of over 1,000 children by hundreds of priests since the 1940s and the church leaders’ efforts to conceal it.
The recent lawsuits seek to bring further accountability and justice for the victims of these alleged abuses, spanning several decades and involving numerous individuals within the church.
