Former Jesuit Is Now A Former Priest

Vatican defrocks convicted priest Donald McGuire
By Karoun Demirjian
Tribune reporter
February 23, 2008

A Jesuit priest convicted of molesting students at a Chicago-area Catholic school in the 1960s was officially defrocked Friday.

Donald J. McGuire has been permanently removed from all clerical functions, said a statement from Rev. Edward Schmidt, the head of the Chicago order of the Society of Jesus to which McGuire belonged.

"We are outraged and saddened that any abuse ever took place," Schmidt said. "[McGuire] has terribly abused the trust [the victims], and we, put in him. And the church, by the action taken today, has demonstrated that same belief." McGuire, a popular priest whose accolades included being a spiritual adviser to Mother Teresa, was convicted in 2006 of molesting two students from Loyola Academy in Wilmette in the 1960s. He also has been accused of molesting others on various occasions from the 1960s through 2002.

Though they welcomed news of McGuire's removal from the priesthood, attorneys and advocates for the victims said it was more symbolic than substantive.

"In the scheme of things, it's little consolation to those kids and families whose lives and souls have been ruined and betrayed by the leadership as well as McGuire," said Jeff Anderson, a lawyer who has represented five of the priest's accusers. "It's a beginning, but it's just so little, so late." Defrocking has been advocated by bishops in recent years as a means of punishing clergy found to have abused children, but it's not a simple procedure. Priests who do not voluntarily leave the cloth -- as McGuire did not -- must be forced out by official order from the Vatican. McGuire, 77, lives in Oak Lawn and travels frequently to Cleveland for medical treatment. A lawyer for McGuire said he was saddened by the news of his dismissal.

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