The documents show that offending priests moved in and out of treatment and from parish to parish, over and over, without the old parish or new one knowing what had happened.
They show monitoring failed repeatedly. Priests and nuns who were selected to keep abusive priests from re-offending told the highest church officials they were not clear what their jobs were. They told officials the priests were breaking restrictions and hanging around kids again. And often, the records show, nothing was done.
“It shows a pattern of repeated abuse, repeated allegations, the Archdiocese working hard to keep that all bottled up in secret and then transferring these gentleman from one parish to another so they can abuse again,” said Chicago Marc Pearlman, who has represented nearly 100 victims along with Anderson.
“What is striking to me is every file is very similar,” Pearlman added. “Each file tells the same story. The only difference is the perpetrator’s name and the victims’ names.”
Consider the case of Daniel Holihan. In 1986, a mom wrote to Cardinal Joseph Bernardin to tell him that the kids called Holihan “Father Happy Hands.”
Holihan was reportedly touching and fondling many boys and bringing them to his cottage. When the police showed an abuse-prevention movie on “good touch, bad touch,” a bunch of boys told their teacher it had happened to them.
The State’s Attorney’s Office found at least 12 cases with credible evidence, but did not charge Holihan. A letter thanks the office for its efforts to “minimize the negative impact on the parish.”
The documents show the Archdiocese moved Holihan to senior ministry, but let him serve in a parish on weekends for a number of years.