Priest reinstated at Lakeview parish after allegation investigated

[_Abyssinia]

A priest has been reinstated to a parish in the Lakeview neighborhood after an investigation concluded that an allegation of sexual misconduct against him “was unfounded,” according to the Catholic Archdiocese of Chicago.

The Rev. Michael W. O’Connell stepped down as pastor of St. Alphonsus Parish, 1429 W. Wellington Ave., in December after it was alleged that he had engaged in sexual misconduct with a minor in the late 1990s while a pastor of an Orland Park church.

The archdiocese released a statement today saying the allegation was investigated by the Cook County sheriff’s office, which “conducted an independent investigation and concluded that the allegation was unfounded.”

chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-priest-reinstated-at-lakeview-parish-after-allegation-investigated-20140415,0,6297486.story

 

[SuperLuigi]

Welcome back!

Sick and tired of all these false accusations.

It’s getting to the point of calling someone a nazi or a racist and losing its meaning.

 

[mikekle]

Welcome back!

Sick and tired of all these false accusations.

It’s getting to the point of calling someone a nazi or a racist and losing its meaning.

Im sick of hearing all this too.

I have to wonder though, maybe the church would be better off in the future to not involve police and just conduct their own investigations and deal with it like this, versus letting the secular police force handle it, I think that may be part of the problem. Police are not the only ones capable of doing an investigation!

Plus, if you look at the churches history, they really dont have that great of a relationship with secular authorities, so this should be taken into consideration as well, police likely have an agenda of their own, as they did many times in the past when dealing with the church.

 

[ringil]

Im sick of hearing all this too.

I have to wonder though, maybe the church would be better off in the future to not involve police and just conduct their own investigations and deal with it like this, versus letting the secular police force handle it, I think that may be part of the problem. Police are not the only ones capable of doing an investigation!

Plus, if you look at the churches history, they really dont have that great of a relationship with secular authorities, so this should be taken into consideration as well, police likely have an agenda of their own, as they did many times in the past when dealing with the church.

um. . . . . . . . no. . . . . . . . . . that would be a pretty bad idea.