On April 15, Cardinal Cupich sent the following letter to St. Agnes of Bohemia; St. Gall; St. James; Mary, Seat of Wisdom; Misión San Juan Diego; St. Norbert and Our Lady of the Brook; and St. Simon of Cyrene parishes informing them of the reinstatement of Father Matthew Foley. In January I wrote to share that the archdiocese had received an allegation of sexual abuse of a minor against your pastor, Father Matthew Foley. The allegation related to the time when Father Foley was assigned to St. Agatha Parish approximately 30 years ago. In keeping with our child protection policies, I directed Father Foley to remain out of ministry while civil authorities and our Independent Review Board (IRB) completed the process of investigating the allegation. He fully complied with my request and cooperated with the investigation. After receiving the results of the thorough investigation, the IRB today determined that there is no reasonable cause to believe Father Foley sexually abused the person making the accusation. In addition, the IRB recommended that Father Foley be reinstated to ministry and that the file be closed. I have accepted their recommendation effectively immediately. It is important to stress that the welfare of the children entrusted to our care is of paramount importance. For this reason we take all allegations of sexual misconduct seriously. At the same time, we must restore the good name of anyone so accused when the allegations are found to be unsubstantiated. To that end, I publicly affirm that Father Foley is a priest in good standing and express sincere appreciation for his many years of service to the People of God. He deserves our respect and gratitude and I hope you will join me in thanking him for his long-standing dedication. I hope you will warmly welcome Father Foley back to St. Gall. We encourage anyone who feels they have been sexually abused by a priest, deacon, religious or lay employee to come forward. They will be received with dignity and compassion. Complete information about reporting sexual abuse can be found on the archdiocesan website at archchicago.org. Please know that I appreciated your patience with this process. I ask that you pray for everyone involved as I continue to pray for you. Sincerely yours in Christ, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich Archbishop of Chicago
Father Martin Marren reinstated to ministry On Nov. 16, Cardinal Cupich sent the following letter to Our Lady at St. Germaine, St. Gerald, St. Cajetan, St. John Fisher, St. John Neumann, St. Gianna and St. Barnabas Parishes informing them of the reinstatement of Father Martin Marren:
Papal vicar names safeguarding point person for Vatican City, Roman Curia Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, the papal vicar for Vatican City State, has appointed Scalabrinian Father Luigi Sabbarese, a 60-year-old canon lawyer, to coordinate and verify the city state’s safeguarding efforts.