Illinois has six Catholic dioceses, and survivors of clergy abuse can be found in every one of them. Where you were abused, and which diocese ran the parish or school, shapes who is responsible and which records exist. The Illinois Attorney General's 2023 report gives a rare, official look at each diocese.
That report named 451 Catholic clerics and religious brothers as substantiated child sex abusers across all six dioceses, who abused at least 1,997 children. Its data analysis tracks those abusers year by year from 1950 through 2019.
You do not need to have reported the abuse, and nobody needs to have been charged. A civil claim asks what a diocese or religious order knew, what it should have known, and what it did. Attorney Ervin Nevitt, a partner at Coplan + Crane (Illinois bar registration 6319808, admitted 2014), reviews these cases.
How the investigation worked
The Attorney General's investigation began in the second half of 2018. It covered the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Dioceses of Belleville, Joliet, Peoria, Rockford, and Springfield. Investigators reviewed more than 100,000 pages of diocesan documents.
When the investigation opened, only Chicago and Joliet posted any list of substantiated abusers. Together, those lists named 103 men. The final report counts substantiated abusers by the diocese where they ministered and compares that with each diocese's own list at the close of the investigation.
Archdiocese of Chicago
The Archdiocese of Chicago covers Cook and Lake counties. The report named 275 substantiated abusers who ministered there. The archdiocese's own list held 150 at the close of the investigation, a gap of 125.
The archdiocese also acknowledged nearly 60 religious order members with substantiated allegations who served within it, but left them off its public list because they had no diocesan ministry or were non-ordained brothers.
Diocese of Joliet
The report named 69 substantiated abusers who ministered in the Diocese of Joliet. The diocese listed 52.
Diocese of Peoria
The report named 51 in the Diocese of Peoria. The diocese listed 43.
Diocese of Belleville
The report named 43 in the Diocese of Belleville. The diocese listed 42. The Belleville chapter also contains one of the report's clearest examples of what diocesan records can reveal. Personnel board minutes from 1985 read, "In making assignments, must not forget about Fr. Kownacki," after the diocese had known of his abuse of children for more than a decade. At the trial of a survivor's lawsuit, the diocese's vice-chancellor testified that when the priest was transferred to a new parish in 1982, it was common knowledge among diocesan leaders that he abused children.
Diocese of Springfield
The report named 32 in the Diocese of Springfield. The diocese listed 23.
Diocese of Rockford
The report named 24 in the Diocese of Rockford, and the diocese listed 24. The report also describes the Diocese of Rockford refusing to give a priest's personnel file to Kane County prosecutors. The Illinois appellate court held that internal church rules did not allow evidence of child sexual abuse by priests to be shielded from discovery.
Why the totals reach 494
The six diocese figures add up to 494, more than the statewide 451. Some men ministered in more than one diocese, so they appear in more than one count.
The report also names 160 clerics and religious brothers who had been substantiated as abusers by Catholic sources but whom the dioceses still had not disclosed. If a diocese's own list does not include the man who abused you, the Attorney General's list is the next place to look. It is at clergyreport.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov, with a search function and a section for each diocese.
Reading an entry
Each entry lists the man's Illinois assignments, the number of reported survivors, the dates and places of reported abuse, and the date the diocese says it first received a claim about him. That last date is often the most important line. If it falls before your abuse, the diocese had a complaint on file while he still had access to you.
The pattern that recurs across dioceses is transfer rather than removal. A priest was moved to another parish after a complaint, and the complaint itself was recorded in an assignment history that still exists.
Who the claim is against
These claims are usually brought against a diocese or religious order, not only against the individual. Negligent retention is the theory that most often carries them, though several run together in practice, and which fits depends on your facts. The responsible body is usually a private organization, so the Tort Immunity rules that govern claims against Illinois public bodies do not apply in the same way.
When a religious order is involved
Not every Catholic priest or brother answers to a bishop. Members of orders such as the Jesuits or Oblates often work in order-run schools, hospitals, and orphanages, as well as parishes. The Attorney General identified more than 250 religious order clerics and brothers as substantiated abusers, from more than 30 orders in Illinois. Diocesan representatives told investigators those men are not theirs, and dioceses generally refer allegations to the order, so a complaint made directly to an order may never reach the diocese.
If you were abused at an order-run Catholic school, the order kept the man's file and decided where he went next. The diocese may hold records too, since survivors often report to the diocese where the abuse happened, and church law gives the bishop authority to watch over Catholic schools in his territory. A claim can involve the order, the diocese, or both.
How diocesan records come out
Once a lawsuit is filed, Illinois Supreme Court Rule 214 allows written requests for specified documents. The diocese must identify everything responsive it holds, produce it as kept in the usual course of business or organized by the categories requested, and sign an affidavit stating whether the production is complete. Requests usually reach assignment histories, personnel files, personnel board and review board records, and parish and school records such as rosters, server schedules, and trip records.
Illinois keeps a clergy privilege (735 ILCS 5/8-803), but it is written around confessions and admissions made to a cleric acting as a spiritual advisor, and the court decides whether a document falls within it.
Outside the six dioceses
The report covers only the Catholic dioceses. Survivors abused in a Protestant or Orthodox church, a synagogue, a mosque, a Jehovah's Witness congregation, or another faith community will not find their abuser in it. Records still exist with the congregation, its regional or national body, and any program, camp, or school it runs. Every member of the clergy in Illinois is a mandated reporter under Section 4 of the Abused and Neglected Child Reporting Act (325 ILCS 5/4) and must report immediately to DCFS when they have reasonable cause to believe a child known to them in that role may be abused. In a self-governing congregation, the local church or its board may be the only institution involved; where a regional body ordains, places, or disciplines clergy, that body may hold the personnel history.
You do not need records before calling. Your memory of names, places, and dates is enough to start, and many survivors file anonymously in Illinois. Timing depends on the facts and should be checked with a lawyer.
Common Questions Around Diocese Claims
How do I find out whether the priest who abused me is in the report? Search clergyreport.illinoisattorneygeneral.gov by name or by diocese. If he is not there, that does not mean you will not be believed. The report counts only men substantiated by the time it was published.
Do I need to have reported it? No. A civil claim requires no police report, no charge, and no conviction. Most people we speak with never reported.
Does someone have to have been convicted? No. A civil case uses a lower standard of proof and is usually brought against the institution.
It was a long time ago. That is the norm in this work. Your age at the time, who was responsible, and the particular facts govern it.
He was a religious brother at a Catholic high school. Often the order that ran the school is responsible, and sometimes the diocese as well. His absence from a diocese's list tells you little.
What happens when you contact us
Asking a question does not start anything. You speak with a person, not a form, and you do not have to describe what happened. We look into which institution was responsible, what it knew, what records exist, and whether a claim can still be brought. That work costs you nothing.
We tell you plainly what is possible. If you decide not to go ahead, that is the end of it, and what you told us stays confidential. If you go ahead, we carry the filings, deadlines, records, and insurers, and steps can be taken to protect your identity in the court record.
Call (708) 671-6858 for a free, confidential case review.
