The archdiocese said in a statement it is practice to reach out to victims “and attempt to resolve their claims without the stress of an extended legal process. We remain committed to resolving sexual abuse cases in a way that results in a prompt and fair settlement for the victims and their families.”
Attorneys said the other settled cases will include former priests Robert Mayer, Robert Becker, Ralph Strand, Ken Ruge, Joseph Fitzharris and Marion Snieg and others.
McCormack, who was removed from the priesthood in November, 2007, pleaded guilty that year to abusing five children while he was a parish priest at St. Agatha.
Ruge, Becker, Snieg and Strand are dead. Mayer resigned in 1994 and was removed from the priesthood in 2010. Fitzharris resigned in 1995 and was removed from the priesthood in 2009.
The archdiocese reached a $12.6 million settlement in 2008 with 16 survivors of clergy sexual abuse, two who claimed they were molested by McCormack, the Chicago Sun-Times then reported.
In 2011, the archdiocese agreed to pay $3.2 million to a man who was abused by McCormack between ages 10 and 12, according to a Sun-Times report.
“Settlements are often healing, but they don’t work miracles,” said David Clohessy, executive director of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. “It’s helpful when those responsible for terrible harm take some responsibility. But no check or conviction or defrocking suddenly erases decades of devastation. So it’s critical that these brave victims keep working on their own recovery from this horror.”
Anderson said he expects release of the files to prompt more victims to come forward and lead to more lawsuits.