According to the National Review Board set up by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, the Archdiocese of Chicago was in full compliance with its sexual abuse charter. The charter, designed to protect young children, was implemented in 2002 after the bishops’ meeting in Dallas. In spite of this declaration of “full compliance” the Archdiocese of Chicago failed to act in the case of Fr. Daniel McCormack who supposedly had a checkered past dating back to his days in the seminary.
How effective is the Review Board if it misses such obvious cases as McCormack who’s been indicted on sexual abuse charges as recent as a few years ago? Full compliance is meaningless if it doesn’t protect children.