From the Chicago Tribune:

A Sister of Mercy who taught in Chicago-area Catholic schools for morethan three decades has been indicted in Wisconsin over allegations thatshe abused pupils at a Milwaukee school nearly 40 years ago.

Sister Norma Giannini is accused of having sexual intercourse with twoboys--ages 12 and 13--when they were students at St. Patrick ElementarySchool in the 1960s. According to a criminal complaint, more than 100sexual encounters took place in the church's convent, school office andone victim's home.

Charges are allowable againstGiannini, 78, because in Wisconsin the statute of limitations halts ifthe alleged offender leaves the state. Giannini, who was serving as an8th-grade teacher and principal at St. Patrick's at the time of thealleged assaults, moved to Illinois in 1969.

The Sisters of Mercy removed Giannini from service in December 1992when the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Milwaukee notified them ofallegations against her, according to Sister Betty Smith, president ofthe order's Chicago region.

After treatment at a facility inSt. Louis, Giannini returned to do clerical work for the order and wasnever allowed to work with minors again, Smith said, adding thatGiannini now lives in a retirement center in the western suburbs.

The archdiocese apparently did not report the allegations to civilauthorities. The accusers recently began working with Milwaukee lawenforcement, and prosecutors filed charges Monday.

And from the Sun-Times:

But Sister Betty Smith said a confidentiality agreement with the manwho made the allegations against Sister Norma Giannini in 1992 meantthat the order of nuns couldn't contact police at the time.

Is that true? Let's say the person informed of the abuse is a mandated reporter. Can a confidentiality agreement abrogate her legal responsibility to inform the proper civil authorities?

And in Miami, the archbishop does not want to be deposed in a civil lawsuit against one of his priests, who is accused of molesting a boy in the 1990s.

And in Denver, Archbishop Chaput is dealing with thirty-five sexual-abuse lawsuits, all involving abuse alleged to have taken place between twenty-five and fifty-two years ago--by two priests, both dead.

Grant Gallicho joined Commonweal as an intern and was an associate editor for the magazine until 2015. 

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