The Archdiocese of Chicago released thousands of pages of new documents last week, identifying priests – some who served in Oak Park and River Forest – who are no longer in public ministry due to allegations of sexual misconduct with minors.
Priests associated with Oak Park or River Forest include: James Craig Hagan (St. Catherine-St. Lucy); Richard Barry Bartz (Ascension); Daniel Peter Buck and James Vincent Flosi (St. Luke); Thomas J. Swade (St. Bernardine); and Joseph S. Thomas (St. Giles). While the documents do identify priests accused of sexual misconduct with minors, the purported abuse did not necessarily occur during their service at Oak Park or River Forest churches.
The document release notes that “deceased priests who did not have an opportunity to respond to an allegation before they died are not included on the list.”
While not considered a legal judgment by the Archdiocese, the document release also states: “An allegation is deemed to be substantiated if there is reasonable cause to believe that abuse occurred.”
The new information follows a similar January release of internal Archdiocesan documents by a law firm representing alleged abuse victims. Those documents identified 30 Chicago-area priests accused of sexual abuse of minors. Three of those served at Oak Park churches in the 1960s and 1970s.
The complete list of internal documents is available on the Chicago Archdiocese website at http://docinfo.archchicago.org/
Richard Barry Bartz
Bartz, who served as an associate pastor at Ascension Parish from 1974 to 1979, is accused of exposing genitals and touching boys while sleeping. Three alleged incidents took place between 1976 and 1987.
Documents also reveal that in 1987 a 17-year-old female student at St. Ignatius College Prep accused Bartz of “inappropriate touching.” The principal of the school at the time reported the incident to the Department of Children and Family Services.
The Chicago Tribune reports that Pat Navin was 18 in 1976, when he says Bartz abused him during a ski trip in Wisconsin.
He remained a priest until 2002, according to the Archdiocese.
Daniel Peter Buck
Buck, who served at St. Luke from 1971 to 1976, is accused of molesting two girls from 1972 to 1977.
He also is accused of sexual contact with a 15-year-old girl in 1984. In a letter from Buck to the girl dated June 8, 1984, Buck states: “I am happy, first of all, because I was with you today. I loved being close to you, holding your hand, feeling your gentle loving touch, hearing your happy laughter, seeing your smile.”
James Vincent Flosi
Flosi is accused of abusing a 15-year-old in the rectory of Holy Name Cathedral in 1980. “The alleged abuse consisted of kissing, fondling, oral sex and intercourse,” according to the Archdiocese report.
Another section of the report states that over the course of a couple of months in 1977, Flosi is accused of a number of sexual acts with a minor, which include presenting himself nude to the victim.
James Craig Hagan
Accused of sexually abusing four minors while serving as an associate pastor at St. Richard in Chicago in 1981. Prior to the allegations of abuse, Hagan served seven years at St. Catherine-St. Lucy.
Thomas J. Swade
According to Archdiocese documents, Swade “was withdrawn from parish ministry in 1992, following allegations of sexual misconduct with five teenagers, males and females.” A sixth allegation was made after the first five were made public, according to the document.
“The extent of the physical contact ranged from hugging to genital touching, however, there was no intercourse or violence in any sense,” the report states. “The incident, which did not include any touching, involved an allegation that a teenager had seen him naked coming out of his bathroom.
“Father Swade admitted some inappropriate contact, but indicated that there was no sexual intent on his part,” according to the document.
Joseph S. Thomas
Thomas is accused of sexual abuse of a male minor in the early 1980s. The alleged abuse began when the minor was in the third or fourth grade through the eighth grade, according to the report.
Thomas wrote to his accuser in 2003, asking him to withdraw his accusation of sexual abuse. “I know that I did not have any special liaison with you while I was a pastor,” Thomas states in the letter.
“I recall you[r] name and a bit of what you looked like, but I do not remember having anything more to do with you than I did with any of the other children in the parish.”